Pruitt, 30, is a Houston-area native; he went to College Park and then UH, where the Rays selected him in the 9th round of the 2013 draft. Corresponding move:
Hmm. 30 year old, small righty, middling performer over 199 mlb innings. Stevenson and Battenfield are pretty good 3rd tier prospects. I trust Luhnow when adding pitchers, but on the surface I don’t like this deal.
If this were anybody else this move would be a complete eyeroll. But at this point they've more than earned the benefit if the doubt when it comes to getting more out if pitchers.
It’s a good trade. He’ll pitch in the majors for several more years, there’s no telling if Battenfield ever will, although I like him, and I’m pretty sure Stevenson will be a career minor leaguer. Great spin rate. There’s not a ton of downside to this move.
I am curious to see what the Astros Brass can do with the RPM..... If it doesn’t work out, well it was a low risk move to begin with.
I don't understand posts like these. Astros needed a guy that doesn't completely suck to throw innings in 1st half of the season. Pruit doesn't completely suck, and has produced more than what should be expected from "3rd tier" prospects. Rays clear a 40-man roster spot. Why would there be an eyeroll? Astros need no benefit of the doubt. Should an Astros fan be excited? Probably not. Pruit isn't that good, and is there mostly to make regular season marathon easier for the better pitchers. If he turns out great, that is even better.
Pruitt has a career 4.87 ERA. While not dear god get him off the team abysmal, he has in fact sucked. We could throw Armenteros out there for free and get that level of production. We gave up prospects (not prospects of major significance, but prospects nonetheless) for a bad pitcher. If this team didn't have the track record it does, then this would qualify for an eyeroll, or splash meme or whatever snarky post people make for incoming trash moves. If he pitches like he has in Tampa then this was a bad trade, not bad in a meaningful way, but bad still. But I do trust the team to get a little more out of him to at least make him a decent pitcher, which he hasn't been. At which point this will have been a good trade, maybe even great.
League average ERA for AL is 4.5 last 2 years. Pruit's ERA last 2 years is 4.5. Average does not equal suck in my book. Astros had 12 pitchers pitch with worse ERAs than Armenteros for 461 innings with a combined ERA of 5.25. I think Pruit can beat a 5.25 ERA. I don't think Armenteros can pitch 500 innings this season. More importantly, Astros worst pitchers threw 140 innings of 7 ERA. I think Pruit can beat a 7 ERA.
Yet the movement on his curve is about average and the swinging strike rate is below average for curve balls. Much of that spin must not contribute to movement. His slider looks decent though.
I'm trying to think of just one pitcher we have ever acquired or signed from another team during the Luhnow era that did not perform well in an Astros uniform.
None totally busted. But trade acquisitions Kazmir, Liriano, Clippard, and Straily all pretty much sucked, as did free agent signings Fister, Thatcher, Hernandez, and Ollie Perez. Not that it changes your point: Luhnow’s track record with these kind of deals is incredible, and it’s why we should be excited about giving up 2 decent prospects for a 30 year old with a career 4.5 era.
From FanGraphs Eric A Longenhagen 12:47 Yeah, Rays needed to make a 40-man move after the Arozarena deal so rather than lose Pruitt for nothing they moved him for two fliers. Stevenson's control of the strike zone is great, he was hurt in college which is part of why he fell to where he did. He's relativley positionless and I wish he'd get pushed to an age-appropriate level but he has a shot to be something because of the stick. 12:48 Battenfield I have 90-93, touch 94, has that 12:30ish spin axis I'm sure you're all sick of me talking about, plus vertical movement on the heater so it might play even though it's got 40/45 velo
I agree with this. Also keep in mind that there are a lot of things on hold and distractions around the front office and ownership. Everyone is waiting for the conclusion of the Astros investigation and the fall out and probable suspensions and possible loss of jobs. Ownership is leery of making any major commitments financially or via trade until there is a final resolution.
With no real knowledge beyond stats and Luhnow/front office reputation, I'm predicting Pruitt will take over the middle relief LR role that we used to get out of Devo/Peacock, and will be a lot closer to 2017 Devo than...current Devo.
Rare good article from TCB makes me optimistic: https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2020/...ay-rays-mlb-trade-houston-astros-strom-luhnow
