PITTSBURGH – In the early hours of Tuesday morning the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Rangers right handed closer Keone Kela in exchanged for their No. 7 prospect, Taylor Hearn along with a player to be named later.
At only 25 years of age and on a team friendly contract where the Pittsburgh PIrates will have control of him until 2020, it is hard not to like this deal. In his fourth year at the major leagues, Kela is in the midst of his best professional season in 2018.
Kela has successfully converted 24 of his 25 save opportunities in his first season as the Rangers closer. While the Pirates already have a solid guy to close out games in Felipe Vazquez, adding a player like Kela, who has a K/9 of 10.80 will give the Bucs bullpen the opportunity to get creative as they fight to grab one of the two National League wild card spots in the final months of the season.
Opposing batters are hitting just .203 against Kela this season. He has been very successful against right handed hitters, who have a slash line of .122/.220/.188 against the new Pirate. Like Vazquez, Kela has notable velocity on his fast ball (96.8 MPH avg) and is able to throw batters off balance with a slow curve (83.1 MPH avg).
One of the few flaws in what Kela brings to the table is his lack of having a reliable third pitch. While he certainly has confidence in throwing his fast ball (64.2%) and his curveball (35.3%), Kela rarely ever uses his changeup (0.5%). Though it would be nice for Kela to have the ability to use all three of his pitches, it isn’t completely necessary. All-star relivers such as Andrew Miller and Josh Hader have proved that a player doesn’t need to have a solid third pitch to find success in the major leagues. With Kyle Crick and Vazquez locked in their 8th and 9th inning spots, it is expected that Kela will serve in a role similar to how the Indians use Miller or the Brewers use Hader, as the clubs “fireman”.
Another area of concern of Kela are his numbers against lefties, who have a slash line of .321/.367/.518 against him. However, the Pirates bullpen is deep enough to avoid this problem. If there ever comes a time where Kela is due to face multiple left handed hitters in a row, the Bucs can simply trot out Richard Rodriguez or Edgar Santana who have held lefties to .157 and .215 averages against.
Acquiring Kela resulted in the Pirates saying goodbye to No. 7 prospect Taylor Hearn. Hearn, who came to the club with Felipe Vazquez in 2016 from the Washington Nationals in exchange for closer Mark Melancon, has shown signs of having a promising major league career ahead of him. The 6’5 left hander has had a very solid year at Double-A Altoona where he has gone 3-6 with a 3.12 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 104 innings.
Though Hearn was someone Pittsburgh Pirates fans were excited to see pitch for their club in the major leagues one day, he is more than worth the price of bringing Kela into town. With multiple years of control after this season, the bullpen should be something the Pirates will not have to worry about for a while. As mentioned before, players like Andrew Miller and Josh Hader have shown how much a dominant “fireman” style pitcher can help a team. If used properly, Kela can do the same for the Pirates.
With nearly every traditional role in the Pittsburgh bullpen filled, it would be foolish to limit Kela to be used in just one specific inning or situation. A pitcher with his numbers against right handed batters can and should be used in the most difficult spot of a game, regardless as to when that situation arises. Kela’s skill set also allows him to serve as the emergency back up for every role in the Bucs bullpen. From middle inning relief to closing out ballgames, Kela has experience doing it all.
Finally, Kela not only takes the pressure off of the young players in the Pirates bullpen but also is an added sense of relief to the starting rotation. With Santana, Rodriguez, Crick, Vazquez and now Kela ready and waiting at the start of a game, all the starters will have to do is reach the fifth inning to give their club a legitimate shot to win the game. As the Bucs creep closer and closer into the playoff picture with the season winding down, adding a player like Kela could give this club the final boost they needed to make up for their poor play throughout late May and all of June.
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