The Dodgers announced this morning that they’ve designated right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. for assignment. The move clears space for right-hander Ben Casparius, whose promotion was reported yesterday, on both the 40-man and active rosters.
It’s the second time this year Honeywell, 29, has been DFA’d despite solid results at the big league level. The right-hander began the year with the Pirates on a minor league deal and posted fairly middling results at the Triple-A level with the club but has looked good ever since he was selected to the majors early last month. He pitched just 3 1/3 innings before being cut loose by Pittsburgh, though he was promptly claimed by the Dodgers and continued to post strong numbers in ten appearances with L.A. over the past month. Altogether, Honeywell has compiled a sterling 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings of work across twelve appearances this year.
Impressive as those surface-level numbers are, it’s worth noting that Honeywell’s peripherals suggest regression could be on the way. The righty’s strikeout rate is just 13.8% in the majors this year, and while that’s been paired with a strong 6.4% walk rate that lack of strikeouts leads to a lot of traffic on the bases. Honeywell has kept the scoring to a minimum to this point thanks to a very inflated 89.6% strand rate, but the righty’s 4.74 FIP, 5.28 xERA, and and 4.67 SIERA all suggest that things could get ugly for the righty if his sequencing begins to normalize.
With that being said, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest the right-hander could be a worthwhile contributor to a big league pitching staff. A second-round pick by the Rays back in 2014, Honeywell spent half a decade as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport, even reaching consensus top-15 status prior to the 2018 season after pitching to an excellent 3.49 ERA in 26 starts split between the Double- and Triple-A levels the year prior. Unfortunately for Honeywell, he did not pitch from 2018 to 2020 due to injuries, and he hasn’t looked quite the same ever since that three-year layoff.
After an ill-fated big league debut with the Rays back in 2021, Honeywell struggled badly in the minors until he received an extended opportunity in the Padres bullpen last year that saw him hold his own with a 4.05 ERA in 46 2/3 innings of work while striking 20.6% of batters faced, a far more respectable clip than he’s posted this year despite his impressive results. Given his prospect pedigree, strong results this year, and performance as a solid middle relief arm for the Padres last year, it’s easy to imagine a team having enough interest to claim him off waivers in the coming days. Should Honeywell clear waivers, the Dodgers will have the opportunity to assign him outright to the minor leagues, though he’d be able to reject that assignment in favor of free agency if he so desired.
I think we all saw this coming… DFA’ing Kelly didn’t make sense.
Friedman is a Kelly believer. He keeps coming back to him. I’m not really sure why.
Why would they DFA Kelly? His fastball has insane metrics. Would be an awful move and he would get picked up b a rival
His stuff is top-drawer, WHEN he can find the plate. You never know which Joe Kelly will show up. Every inning is an adventure. I’d rather know what I’m going to get when I hand a guy the ball. Dodger fans have a love-fest with certain players, regardless of results. Kelly is one of those. Eventually he’ll pitch himself back off the team again. There are more arms coming off the shelf soon. Only a matter of time.
They didn’t call him Joke Ellie in Boston for nothing.
I’d argue a guy that gives up 4 runs in one inning of work then rattles off 8 scoreless is worth more than a guy who give up 1-2 runs across multiple innings with the same ERA. one might lose you a game, the other could lose you multiple.
GB
Underated comment that will go unnoticed by the majority of MLBTR commenters
His stuff doesn’t mean much when he can’t throw a strike.
Huh? Honeywell had a 2.21 ERA in 20 innings for the Dodgers. Am I missing something here?
Sounds like the kid they’re bringing up is a starter which may explain it
From what I’ve heard, it’s likely they’re going to stick him in the pen…for now anyway. Or until they get tired of propping up Miller.
Yep, I think so. His pitching metrics over his career are simply not good. The Dodgers picked him up as cannon fodder and got lucky with him for a while. The next guy on that hit parade probably is Banda but as a lefty he’ll have the longer leash.
But that makes no sense. Cutting a guy that performed well because he wasn’t supposed to perform well? I’m sorry but metrics make no logical sense to me. You don’t cut a guy that puts up good numbers because you think he might be worse in the future. You wait until he shows you he is worse in the future, then you make a move. There have been plenty of examples of pitchers outperforming their metrics. And there have been plenty of examples of pitchers underperforming their metrics. To me, that shows that metrics might not be all they are cracked up to be.
The stats provide you with a mean performance. By definition this tells you that half the time the player has performed above their mean and half below. Unless a player has changed in some known way, the mean of how they have performed in the past is what you can expect in the future. Just run your finger over Honeywell’s stats. You will find that he is below MLB average in just about every respect. That does not say he won’t have runs of better than average. What it says is you have no reason to expect it to continue. So this makes perfect sense — if you apply basic concepts of statistics to the question.
“Cutting a guy that performed well because he wasn’t supposed to perform well?”
It’s not like that though, hiflew. The Dodgers unique situation of having a stacked roster leaves miniscule wiggle-room with roster moves. What we’re seeing now is that minimal wiggle movement due to a plethora of injuries. Some guys will always be that 39th or 40th man on a stacked 40. I’m sure Friedman and Doc’s cut-talk with Honeywell was full of positive and effusive praise. Reminds me of when they DFA’d Big Maple when he was 8 & 2 or whatever… it’s just an embarrassment of riches when you can cut effective guys. Props to LA for being so deep. We’ve got a good rubber game going right now, hiflew!
*hat tip*
Definitely a fun game. As much as I may dislike the Padres, they always seem to bring out the best in the Rox.
8 straight series wins and you guys chew us up… as usual! Cheers homey
BEAT SAN DIEGO!
BEAT SAN DIEGO!
BEAT SAN DIEGO!!
We came to Denver to chew gum and kick butt… and we’re all out of both! Doh
Hate that when that happens.
hi
“guy that puts up good numbers ”
He wasn’t putting up good numbers
“strikeout rate is just 13.8% in the majors this year, and while that’s been paired with a strong 6.4% walk rate that lack of strikeouts leads to a lot of traffic on the bases. Honeywell has kept the scoring to a minimum to this point thanks to a very inflated 89.6% strand rate, but the righty’s 4.74 FIP, 5.28 xERA, and and 4.67 SIERA ”
“but metrics make no logical sense to me. ”
That’s on you. You can choose to learn, or not
Metrics are useful, but they often need to be supplemented by examining raw data.
For example, to understand why Honeywell has stranded so many batters, it’s necessary to examine situations where this has happened. If with runners on base he’s getting behind in the count and throwing a screwball when the batter’s expecting a fastball, resulting in weak ground ball that gets Honeywell out of a jam, this would suggest that the high strand rate isn’t luck, but, effective pitch selection and execution.
Here you go again. You do realize they dfa’d because they were weary about kersh starting and going long. They threw Honeywell the night before when they shouldn’t have if they wanted length the next day. Had they not spent Honeywell the night prior they would’ve had him for long on Kershs day but they dfa’d and didn’t even need a long guy yesterday. Lol
Should’ve sent Miller back to OKC. Wrobleski can go 5 with better results. They need all the bullpen arms, particularly multi-inning guys. Remember, Buehler is in the rotation.
They need to remove a guy from the 40-man. Even if you send Miller down, he’s still on the roster.
Here’s what you’re missing SIERA, FIP and xERA of 4.67, 4.74 and 5.28. What this tells you is that his ERA of 2.28 is unsustainable.
Here’s what you are missing Those three numbers are completely irrelevant. They are not predictive of the future. They are not reflective of what actually happens on the field. Just what SHOULD have happened if all other things on the field were neutralized. But you never play a game when all things are neutralized, so those numbers are really only applicable in game theory. That’s fine if you live in an ivory tower and are trying to get grant money for a statistics project. But it is really meaningless for an actual baseball game.
An actual baseball game is only one data point. I’m not sure I see why we care at about a player’s performance history at all if every appearance is its own data point completely disconnected from any other.
Yes, because baseball decision makers care more about the past than the future. They have access to a lot more stats than we do, and knowledge. Not saying that I don’t occasionally disagree but it’s really interesting how many fans think they know more than the professionals, and base those opinions on smallest of sample sizes.
Hif
“Here’s what you are missing Those three numbers are completely irrelevant. They are not predictive of the future. ”
Wrong
All are more predictive than ERA – which is, I guess, the number you are looking at above all others
“They are not reflective of what actually happens on the field. Just what SHOULD have happened”
Wrong.
The only way to predict the future is to to measure the past and present.
That those numbers are better at predicting the future shows that they are better at measuring the past.
Everybody knows the future after it happens. The trick is knowing it before it happens, and the only possible way to predict anything in the future is to measure the past. Is this not blindingly obvious? Statistics for Dummies.
BSLA
“Everybody knows the future after it happens. ”
Well… Not everyone…
The problem with that thought is that most of the time the future does not equal the past. We like to fool ourselves into thinking that we can predict the future through the past just so we can have some type of control over it, but even in the very few times predictions are correct, it is mostly just a lucky guess or a self-fulfilling prophecy. People like to remember the few times their predictions are correct and not the many times they are not.
hf
That’s not at all correct. Just something to say because you don’t want to admit that you’re wrong.
And you don’t even believe what you are saying.
I know because you said this:
“You don’t cut a guy that puts up good numbers because you think he might be worse in the future. You wait until he shows you he is worse in the future, then you make a move”
If a player performing worse is no more likely to perform poorly in the future than a player who is performing well, then why would you cut them?
The past is the best predictor of the future – you agree with that
Metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERRA are better predictors of the future than ERA
This is verifiable
tht.fangraphs.com/how-well-can-we-predict-era/
Continue to be contrary all you want
You are wrong
Okay DodgersBro, I accept the friendly amendment. Everybody CAN know the future after it happens.
Yeah I guess some would think it makes no difference if the next batter coming to the plate in a potential game wining situation is hitting .300 or .200 — because, you know, he either gets a hit or he doesn’t. Reminds me of the old statistics joke about the chances of anything happening being 50-50. Either it happens or it doesn’t. Maybe some actually believe this, though it really is a joke. But I guess we can stop talking about stats in baseball entirely now, since they apparently are irrelevant.
This is a real head scratcher of a move.
4.67 SIERA compared to a 2.20 ERA tells you all you need to know. Unfortunately seems Honeywell is due for a big regression and I’d understand why the Dodgers would prefer to go with someone they’ve seen go through their system than stick with Honeywell.
Not 1 single player from the 2001 Dodgers is still playing on the team. Think of that (!) Almost unbelievable.
Yeah. It’s unbelievable that Shawn Green, Paul Lo Duca, or Eric Gagne are no longer on the team.
Gagne appears to be in top shape of his life, Bring him back!!!
There’s a few teams I’m sure who don’t have any players from their 2001 rosters
RIP 2001 Dodgers. I remember I rode a helicopter with the 2001 dodgers and it went down. Only Terry Mulholland and I survived.
A real tragedy.
And Ty Cobb never got to play for the Montreal Expos. Not to mention how Mike Napoli fell just one double short of the coveted 225. Baseball is a funny game.
But he hit 11 triples. A 4.5 second 40 yard dash time will do that for you.
@lowenstein. He might actually reach 225. The HOF committee has a meeting to decide if he can exchange one triple for a double and a single.
Big news in the baseball world if it happens. That opens the door for Kenny Lofton to convert all his singles into homeruns. 2428 singles converted to round trippers plus his 130 career homeruns would put Lofton 3rd all time with 737.
What a time to be alive.
What planet are you on right now?
Pirates bring him back and get rid of some dead wood in the bullpen.
I would think at this point the Dodgers should be hanging onto any P whose arm is still attached. However Precariously in Honeywells case..
Joutah- I think it might have something to do with his arm problems. I think he’s had like 2 TJ surgeries and shoulder trouble. I could be wrong though.
He’s had 1 and 0 shoulder issue. Lol
This is the dawning of the age of Casparius, age of Casparius….
Orioles?
He will be traded. Someone will bite.
Trade deadline is passed. He will be claimed or released unless he accepts a AAA assignment.
Trades are limited now but still permitted in some cases. I believe a DFA is one of them because in the case of a DFA a team has a trade window before they are forced to make the player available on waiver claims. But I am not sure. We had an article on all of this recently.
Not anymore. You can trade minor leaguers but not rostered major leaguers.
Thanks for the clarification.
You also can’t trade anybody who has EVEN BEEN on a Major League roster and is now in the Minors. To clarify, You can only trade Minor Leaguer’s who have been there all season.
So here’s a question. If a DFA’d player clears waivers and accepts a minor league assignment (assuming he had the service time to decline one) can he later be added back to the 40-man roster and be eligible for postseason play?
That’s a different question but I think the date USED to be Sept 1 was the day you had to be on the roster to be eligible for the Playoffs. I’m not positive anymore. If you have been DFA’d from a team, Go down and come back then I think yes.
This site ran an article explaining all of this a few weeks ago but I can’t find it now.
Oakland/Sacramento A’s here he comes. Bea nice pick up for them
Angels could use Honeywell.
Those Sad Sacks need way more than that. LOL. An owner, A POBO, A GM, Scouts, Brains, etc…………
Well so could the A’s, White Sox, Rockies etc.
No argument here.
Can we call him back and change our minds
Throw MickeyTheMod into a vat of acid. Muted.
The problem I have is DFAing a guy that is still performing well for an unknown quantity. This is what Roberts does to his starting pitchers all the time.
Today, Kershaw replaced after 6 scoreless innings and only 70 pitches. Roberts got away with it at the expense of the bullpen.
TheyLive
“The problem I have is DFAing a guy that is still performing well ”
Well, Honey, Brent wasn’t performing
“Honeywell’s peripherals suggest regression could be on the way. The righty’s strikeout rate is just 13.8% in the majors this year, and while that’s been paired with a strong 6.4% walk rate that lack of strikeouts leads to a lot of traffic on the bases. Honeywell has kept the scoring to a minimum to this point thanks to a very inflated 89.6% strand rate, but the righty’s 4.74 FIP, 5.28 xERA, and and 4.67 SIERA”
Those are, you know, also measures of performance
Perhaps you can regurgitate something about how valuable Jayson Heyward has been??
Come on, Deeds. “Impressive as those surface-level numbers are” is NOT PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just leave “as” out to start the sentence. It isn’t optional, neither is using correct grammar if you’re being paid to write.