The Orioles announced today that they will be transitioning young fireballer Radhames Liz to a role in the bullpen. Most articles on the subject seem to highlight the lack of major league ready starting pitching in Baltimore more than the potential for Liz’s success in the pen. But what’s the fun in following the crowd.
The term Pitch 22 is often used to refer to a pitcher who is too valuable as a middle reliever to get a shot at the starting rotation. Guys like Aaron Heilman now of the Chicago Cubs come to mind. Radhames Liz is somewhat of the opposite – an arm who was evaluated for the pen when his shot at the rotation backfired miserably. But can he get a fresh start in the pen?
Liz has decent stuff, throwing a mid 90′s fastball, a hard slider, and a mid 80′s change, but can’t seem to find the plate with any of it. In 2008, Liz walked 74 batters in 109 innings. He did this by hitting the strikezone only 48% of the time, which would have placed him as the 5th least accurate in the majors had he pitched enough innings to qualify. Even this was an improvement on his 47.1% in 2007. The clear result is that he allows far more men on base than other pitchers. In fact, his 5.44 walks per 9 innings pitched last year would be the absolute worst in the majors had he amassed enough innings to qualify for that dubious honor.
Radhames’ struggles only seemed to get worse as the game wore on. When facing the batting order the first time around, Liz had a 4.08 ERA. Hitters having seen his stuff once through the lineup, his ERA climbed to 7.58 and 10.61 the second and third times, respectively.
But a reliever has certain benefits over a starter. They only face the order, or often merely a part of it, once per game at most. When used sparingly, his 94 mph power fastball / hard slider combo could prove more effective in a relief role. After all, by averaging 94 mph he matches the likes of such fastball/slider flamethrowers as Brad Lidge or Carlos Marmol.
But if the Orioles really want him to become a successful bridge to Chris Ray and George Sherrill, they’ll have to get their young gun to start pounding the strike zone a little more often.
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