The Rockies announced Wednesday that they’ve designated left-handed reliever Fernando Abad for assignment. His roster spot will go to fellow southpaw Brent Suter, who has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list after missing nearly a month due to an oblique strain.
Abad, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the winter and has since bounced on and off their roster this year. He was selected in mid-May and was designated for assignment less than a week later. After being released, he re-signed another minors deal and got his roster spot back at the start of this month. Between those two stints, he’s tossed 6 1/3 innings with a 4.26 earned run average. That might seem passable at first glance but he’s struck out just 6.3% of hitters while stranding an unsustainable 98.2% of runners.
That’s a very small sample size and Abad and spent a larger amount of time in Triple-A this year, posting a 1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings there. His numbers there are also being helped by a 100% strand rate but his 30.8% strikeout rate at that level is much more impressive.
The veteran has a lengthy track record that consists of 406 major league appearances dating back to 2010. He had a strong stretch from 2013 to 2017, registering a 3.13 ERA over 275 appearances in that time. But he’s been more of an emergency option since then, tossing just 37 total innings since the end of 2017 with a combined 4.86 ERA.
The Rockies will now have a week to trade Abad or pass him through waivers. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. It’s possible that Abad is released and returns to the club on a new minor league deal, the same sequence of events that took place a couple of months ago, though that’s not guaranteed in any way.
As for Suter, he was having a strong season before suffering that oblique strain. He has a 2.81 ERA on the year, keeping the ball on the ground at a 41.7% clip. As an impending free agent on a non-contending club, Suter figures to draw trade interest in the coming weeks, especially if he returns that same level of effectiveness. The Rockies are usually reticent to part with logical trade candidates but manager Bud Black recently indicated that could be different this year.
Was this a good, or Abad decision? Only time will tell.
As major leaguers go, he was a-bad pitcher. But when you are cut by the Rockies, it is almost self-evident.
Rockies are swimming in major league ready relievers actually. It’s the one area where they’re incredibly deep in MLB and AAA.
It definitely looked like abad signing from the beginning
I was wondering yesterday when I looked at the box if this way the guy from the Astros. It turns out, yes, he is still around.
Damn, he got the win yesterday
I’m just here for the Bad jokes.
And they will be (A)bad!
Pitch well, get the victory in last night’s game, reward? Get DFA’d the next day. One more to file under “life ain’t fair”
Seems that the Rockies don’t want too much of Abad thing.
First Painter now this. Dark day for pitchers. It’s like Pompeii all over again.
It’s truely Abad day for baseball
Thank god somebody finally made this joke.
This is Abad move for the Rox.
I still think and this doesn’t include Abad, that the Rockies need to hold onto their relief core and possibly sign some to extensions. Suter, Byrd, Bard, Johnson and Lawerence will definitely benefit the Rockies starters in the next few years. Trade them off and then you’re starting all over. The rotation is going to need help next year.
Daniel Bard is 38
Yeah but about 33 in baseball years. He didn’t pitch for a LONG while.
Correct he is 38, but his arm is 27 with that 11 season lay off from baseball. His ERA is 2.14 and he can pitch at Coors. As long as he stays mentally focused he still has a few years worth keeping on the Rockies roster.
I disagree. With position players and starters, I love to see extensions. But relievers are so volatile from year to year. I am reminded of former Rockie Rex Brothers. He had one year where he looked like a future HOFer and then everything fell apart quickly. Justin Lawrence could be the same type. I don’t think the Rockies should just give away Lawrence, but if someone offers a nice package for him, you have to take it.
Suter, Bard, Johnson, Bird should all be on the market. Guys like them are on the free agent market every year. I would love to hold together a great pen for years, but I don’t think this is it. I think this is just a pen that is playing over its head right now.
Are they playing over their heads or did they actually find a core group that can pitch at altitude? When we complain about letting guys go like Ottavino why not hold onto a couple of these guys for 2 years or so?
Agree that extensions for relievers generally don’t make sense. Suter is the only one where I could potentially see trying since he seems to be consistently pretty good.
They should definitely take whatever they can get (even if mainly salary relief) for Hand, and for Johnson if anybody will take him. And at least listen to see if somebody offers a decent prospect for Suter. I doubt anyone will want to trade for Bard given his high walk rate this season and potential for mental health issues.
never surprises me when a team DFAs Abad pitcher.
He allowed 1 hit in 1.1 innings and got the win, he did not have Abad outing.
He allowed 1 hit in 1.1 innings and got the win, he did not have Abad outing