It has been reported that Daniel Hudson who is a free agent, has been linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Bill Brink of the Post-Gazette has tweeted that the Pittsburgh Pirates are interested in reliever Daniel Hudson.
Heard Pirates are one of the teams that have expressed interest in free-agent righty Daniel Hudson.
— Bill Brink (@Bill_Brink2) December 6, 2016
Career to Date
Table courtesy of Baseball-Reference
Hudson brings some elements that could come of use to manager Clint Hurdle and Ray Searage. While Hudson does have experience as a starter at the major league level, the last two seasons he has been used out of the bullpen in Arizona. Hudson posted a 3.86 ERA in 2015, followed up by a 5.22 ERA in 2016. If we dig a bit deeper, he makes an intriguing case.
Straight Heat
Hudson’s best pitch appears to be his fourseam fastball. He throws this pitch at almost a 2/1 ratio compared to the other pitches in his arsenal. It is his highest strikeout pitch, according to Brooksbaseball, at 233 K’s in 1,131 qualified at bats. Hudson’s fastball is well known to touch 97 MPH and have a downward plane. Hudson does a fair job creating ground balls with this pitch, at 36 percent. Another pitch that may have Ray Searage at is his sinker. When contact is made, almost 55 percent of balls put in play are on the ground. Hudson also does a nice job of getting hitters to swing and miss at the siking stuff, around 42 percent of the time.
Not one, but TWO TJs
One of the largest red flags when it comes to Hudson is his injury history. The 29 year old has had two Tommy John surgeries in his young career, thuogh he has been able to average 67 appearances over the past two seasons.
Hudson’s career is certainly not without its highlights. In 2010 as a reliever, he posted a sub 1.7 ERA while going 79.2 innings. He followed that up in 2011 by returning to starting role, pitching 222 innings with a 3.49 ERA. Just for kicks, his FIP that season was 3.29, suggesting that he really did pitch up to that ERA. His staring days are likely behind him, but there is a lot of evidence here that Hudson could be on his way towards turning into a dependable bullpen arm.
Daniel Hudson is an interesting player that the Pittsburgh Pirates would do well to kick the tires on.
Featured Image Credit – Flickr Creative Commons
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