Tyson Ross was once gifted the title of the next big time ace in San Diego.
It is easy to understand, on the surface, why Tyson Ross was given that title. Ross is a large man and throws the ball hard, two typical “Ace” like qualities. Ross had an excellent 2014 campaign as it earned him a spot on the NL All-Star team. He followed that up with a strong 2015 as well.
The big question is, what happened? In 2016 the wheels really fell off for Ross. A lot of that could be contributed to injuries and the fact that he only recorded 5.1 innings – one start – between the minors and major leagues in 2016. The right-hander went on the disabled list after just one start due to a shoulder strain. During his rehab, he sprained an ankle. Finally, it was decided that Thoracic Outlet Syndrom was needed and Ross was officially on the shelf.
All of that adds up to a pretty lost season for the 29 year old, and it led to Ross being non-tendered by the Padres after receiving $9.625 million for those 5.1 innings. That is around $1.6 million dollars for every inning that Ross pitched in 2016. With Ross being non-tendered, this essentially makes him a free agent going into winter meetings. What makes Tyson Ross an attractive option for the Pittsburgh Pirates? Let’s take a look.
Good Secondary Stuff
Tyson Ross has an above average slider that has a knack for inducing easy outs. Ross’ slider generates a much higher groundball (64.47 percent in 2015) ratio when compared to other RHP with major league service time. What may be even more impressive than that is that Ross is whiffing batters 22.7% of the time on that pitch. That is a great sign that the talent is there, if his health provides a clear path to execution.
Friendly Contract in the Cards?
The free agent market for pitching has been off the charts this offseason so far. Average pitchers, such as Andrew Cashner for example, are receiving around $10M per season. 36 year old Rich Hill just received a three-year, $48 million deal.
It is incredibly difficult to measure what a deal with Tyson Ross would cost the Pirates, but one could concur it would be team friendly. Amongst all of the trade winds suggesting the Pirates may move Andrew McCutchen, this could open up the financial flexibility needed to bring in Ross. A player that I would draw a similar comparison to would be Jesse Chavez who was signed by the Angels on a 1 year $5.75M contract. Chavez battled injuries with the Blue Jays last year and boasted a mediocre 4.43 ERA in 67 innings. It may be worth the Pirates to make a call to Ross’ agent if he is going for around the same asking price as Chavez. The upside is certainly there with Ross.
Proven Success at the Major League Level
The last item that makes Ross an interesting candidate is his success at the major league level. In 2014, Ross was an NL All-Star, pitching 195.2 innings for the San Diego Padres while boasting a 2.81 ERA. That is very solid production at the major league level, probably making you a #2 starter on most clubs.
In 2015, Ross was able to back that performance up with a 3.26 ERA over 196 innings. Again, solid production from Ross. Another interesting stat you can line up with Ross is that his FIP and ERA almost resembled each other in those 2 seasons. This would conclude that Ross was truly pitching as strong as the ERA’s mentioned above suggest.
Ross allowed only 0.6 HR/9 in 2014 followed up by 0.4 HR/9 in 2015. He could potentially serve as an outstanding bounce back candidate for the Pirates, in the vein of so many before him, however he would be a bit more accomplished than some similar cases.
The big questions becomes, which Tyson Ross would the Pirates get? The 2014 & 2015 version of Ross, which would be a frontline starter or the injury riddled version? It could be easy to write off 2016 as an anomaly for a previously-durable starter, and see through to the net positives.
In this market, the Pittsburgh Pirates could do a whole lot worse than kicking the tires on Tyson Ross.
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