Relievers Back From the Dead

Every season, a few bullpen arms emerge (or re-emerge) from obscurity, providing their clubs with excellent relief work for a bargain-basement price. Today I’d like to highlight three such hurlers. Each experienced big league success in the past, but had fallen on hard times lately. Without further ado, here are the ‘pen performers who have returned from the dead in 2010..

J.J. Putz, White Sox

Signed: December 2009 — 1 year, $3 million

A nondescript major leaguer with the Mariners in 2004 and 2005 (a combined 0.1 WAR in 123 innings), Putz terrorized hitters in the late frames the following two years. With a fastball that crept up to the mid-nineties, a mid-80’s slider and an upper-80’s splitter, he led all relievers with 3.6 WAR in 2006 and followed up with 2.3 WAR (a top-10 mark) in 2007. Over that two-year span, Putz owned an 11.16 K/9, 1.56 BB/9 and a 2.50 xFIP (best among relievers).

The 6-5, 250 pound righty’s reign as bullpen king, however, was short-lived. Plagued by rig cage and elbow ailments in 2008, Putz still missed scads of bats (10.88 K/9) but lost the zone often (5.44 BB/9). He hit the DL twice and finished with a 4.13 xFIP and 0.6 WAR. Swapped to the Mets as part of a three-team deal in December of ’08, Putz tossed just 29.1 innings for the Amazin’s last year before undergoing season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow. He never looked right, compiling just 0.1 WAR with as many walks as punch outs (5.83 K/9 and BB/9 apiece).

Picked up by the White Sox over the winter, Putz is dealing in 2010. He has a 2.28 xFIP and 0.6 WAR in 21.2 IP, whiffing 11.63 per nine innings and issuing 1.66 BB/9. During his big league career, Putz has thrown his fastball about 70 percent of the time. This season, however, he’s going to the heat 52 percent of the time. The 33-year-old is relying heavily on his splitter (about 35 percent), and he’s getting a ton of swings on pitches off the plate and plenty of whiffs. Among relievers with 10+ IP, Putz places tenth in outside swing percentage (37) and 20th in swinging strike rate (12.8 percent).

Joaquin Benoit, Rays

Signed: February, 2010 — minor league deal, $750K with $500K in incentives

A swingman with the Rangers from 2002-2005, Benoit transitioned to relief full-time in 2006. Over the next two seasons, he owned an 9.58 K/9, 3.67 BB/9 and a 4.01 xFIP, racking up 1.4 WAR in ’06 and two wins in ’07. Benoit had long dealt with injury problems — according to the Baseball Injury Tool, he was sidelined with elbow inflammation in 2003, shoulder tendinitis in 2004, and shoulder and elbow tendinitis in 2005. But he was healthy and effective for the Rangers for those two seasons.

It didn’t last, though. Bothered by shoulder soreness in 2008, Benoit slogged through a sub-replacement-level season (-0.2 WAR). Joaquin K’d 8.6 batters per nine innings, but walked seven per nine with a 5.71 xFIP. He underwent rotator cuff surgery in early 2009 and missed the entire season.

The Rays took a flyer this past winter, and it’s paying off. Benoit, 32, shredded Triple-A hitters with Durham to begin the 2010 campaign (9.2 IP, 17/3 K/BB) and he’s doing the same in the majors. He’s got 12.64 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 15.2 innings, with a 2.29 xFIP and 0.4 WAR. Throwing his fastball harder than ever (93.7 MPH average) and mixing in mid-80’s sliders and low-80’s changeups, Benoit has an obscene 16.4 swinging strike rate, a number that is tops among MLB relievers.

Clay Hensley, Marlins

Signed: May 2009, minor league contract. Re-signed for $425K in December 2009

Hensley’s career highlight is a 2.1 WAR season for the Padres back in 2006. In 29 starts and eight relief stints covering 187 innings, Hensley used a kitchen-sink approach to post a 4.34 xFIP. Using an 88 MPH sinker, a low-80’s slider, a mid-70’s curve, and a low-80’s change, Hensley didn’t miss many bats (5.87 K/9) and his control was average (3.66 BB/9), but he made up for it with strong ground ball tendencies (53.9 GB%).

Injuries wrecked his next two seasons, as Hensley succumbed to labrum surgery in September of 2007. Before going under the knife, he served up Barry Bonds‘ 755th career home run and then got booted to the minors the next day. Hensley had a combined -0.3 WAR over the ’07 and ’08 seasons.

The Astros signed him to a minor league deal prior to 2009, but released him. The Marlins scooped Hensley up and stuck him in the Triple-A rotation, where he posted rates of 6.47 K/9, 3 BB/9 and a 3.73 FIP in 114 innings. While he lost out on a rotation spot this past spring, the 30-year-old has been a revelation in relief for Florida.

He’s still a soft-tosser (89.1 MPH), but he has gone to the fastball under 50 percent of the time. Instead he’s going to a slow curve (71-72 MPH) and changeup over 20 percent each, while tossing the occasional slider as well. Hensley has a 3.10 xFIP and 0.8 WAR in 32.1 IP so far, with a whopping 11.69 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. Clay has retained his ground ball rate, too, with a 50.7 GB%.

As these three show, there are values to be had on the relief pitching market. A team can cobble together an effective ‘pen without shelling out a high seven-figure annual salary and holding a flashy press conference.