Chicago White Sox strengthen bullpen by signing Kelvin Herrera

The Chicago White Sox strengthened the back end of their bullpen by signing veteran Kelvin Herrera to a two-year deal.

On Monday afternoon the Chicago White Sox signed a former Washington National, and no, it’s not Bryce Harper.

The White Sox agreed to terms with veteran right-handed reliever Kelvin Herrera on a two-year, $18 million contract with a club option for a third year.

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Although he’s an eight-year veteran, Herrera is still just 29-years-old and offers great value to the White Sox. Since debuting in 2011, Herrera has been one of the most consistent relievers in the game, posting a 2.82 career ERA. In fact, his ERA has topped 4.00 in just one of his seven full MLB seasons.

Fans should be quite familiar with Herrera as he’s spent nearly the entirety of his time at the MLB level with the division rival Kansas City Royals. Herrera was a huge part of the dominant bullpen that played an integral role during the team’s back-to-back World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015.

Most recently, Herrera had a great start to the 2018 season, pitching to the tune of a 1.05 ERA and 2.69 FIP in 27 appearances. After being traded to the Washington Nationals on June 18th, Herrera’s season took a turn for the worse.

Herrera made just 21 appearances the rest of the season, posting 4.34 ERA and 5.68 FIP over 18.2 innings. To make matters worse, Herrera couldn’t stay healthy, suffering two stints on the disabled list due to a right rotator cuff impingement and a left lisfranc tear that ended his season.

The sharp jump in ERA can be attributed to pitching through injuries, but also to a significant drop in getting batters to swing and miss at pitches outside of the zone. Before being traded, Herrera had induced swings on 38.7 percent of balls outside the strike zone. After being traded, that number fell to 31.4 percent – a big part of why his walk rate more than quadrupled.

Herrera is primed to bounce back in 2019, with an offseason to recover from his injuries and clear his head after a tough stint in the nation’s capital.

The two-time All-Star is a flamethrower who relies heavily on his fastball, throwing it about 64 percent of the time and for good reason – Herrera throws his average fastball 97 mph but can ramp it up to 98 or 99 when needed.

When he’s not using his fastball, Herrera turns to either a slider or changeup, throwing each at 19 and 17 percent of the time, respectively. The slider is certainly his best off-speed pitch, inducing swings and misses 21.5 percent of the time, more than double the league average rate of 10.7 percent.

While it’s not the high profile signing that fans have been clamoring for, Herrera is a great addition to a reliever group that finished the 2018 season with the 23rd ranking bullpen ERA.

If the White Sox rebuild accelerates and the team finds themselves competing in 2019, Herrera will be a great back of the bullpen option with vast experience pitching in high leverage situations.

On the other hand, if things don’t go well in 2019 and the team seems to still be a year or two away from contending, the White Sox will be able to flip Herrera at the deadline. He garnered a lot of attention from contenders last season and that should be no different this year, especially since his deal would extend into 2020 with a club option for the 2021 season.