Dodgers’ Trade Target Profile: Kyle Crick an Underrated Option

With the trade deadline a little over a month away, we will begin profiling possible trade targets for the Dodgers.  The Pirates have a few possible trade targets and one is Kyle Crick.

The Dodgers are the best team in the National League, without a doubt.  That doesn’t mean they are a team without any flaws.  The biggest kryptonite of the 2019 Dodgers is their bullpen.  While Kenley Jansen is still a dependable closer, his days of dominance appear to be over.  He is still solid but he is no longer dominant and he has been shaky at times this season.

Outside of Jansen, the other reliable bullpen arm has been Pedro Baez.  The enigmatic reliever has turned into one of the better setup relievers in baseball this season. Outside of Jansen and Baez, the rest of the bullpen has had their struggles, especially Joe Kelly who was signed to be the bridge to Jansen.

One of the first possible trade targets I am going to profile is Kyle Crick of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Pirates, of course, have Felipe Vazquez who is a flame-throwing lefty, but the asking price for him is going to be astronomical.  Crick won’t be cheap to acquire if he is available since he is under team control through 2020 with three more seasons of arbitration after that.

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Crick should still cost less to acquire than Vazquez.  Kyle was a first round pick in 2011 and the 49th overall pick in the draft and was a top 100 prospect in 2015.  He was originally a starting pitcher but transitioned to the bullpen full time when he was called up by the Giants in 2017.  He is now in his second season with the Pirates after being part of the trade that sent Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants.

As far as his repertoire, Kyle Crick features a three pitch mix of his fastball, slider, and changeup.  His fastball sits in the mid to upper 90’s and has averaged 95.2 MPH this season.  Crick’s slider is his wipeout pitch and has been featured multiple times in Pitching Ninja GIF’s.  The changeup is a below-average pitch and Kyle rarely throws it if ever.

Last season in his first full season with the Pirates, Crick pitched sixty plus innings allowing an opponent’s batting average of .202.  He posted an ERA of 2.39 and a WHIP of 1.13.  He was especially tough on right-handed batters holding them to a .154 average compared to the .255 average he allowed to lefties.

This season he has been dominant against both sides of the plate, holding left-handed batters to a .139 average against and right-handed hitters to a .182 average.  He has an ERA of 2.63 this season and a WHIP of 1.21.  While he is not as proven as some of the other big-name relievers, Crick would be an under the radar acquisition that could pay big dividends this season and in the future.