A's Sign Former Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres Reliever
While the team has not made the move official and he has yet to be assigned to any level, right-handed reliever Gerardo Reyes went the Shohei Ohtani route and announced his arrival with the Oakland A's himself on Instagram.
Reyes, 30, made his big-league debut with the San Diego Padres back in 2019, appearing in 27 games while recording a 7.62 ERA with a 1.346 WHIP in 26 innings. He held a very nice 32.5% strikeout rate and a decent 9.4% walk rate.
Funnily enough, he was originally signed by the Tampa Bay Rays, but was traded in the three-team deal that landed Wil Myers in San Diego and Trea Turner in Washington. Even A's legend Burch Smith was in that deal!
Reyes was traded to the Angels in exchange for Jason Castro in August of 2020. He had Tommy John surgery in March of 2021, and came back in 2022 while posting a 3.74 ERA across 45 2/3 innings in Triple-A, but his walk rate also spiked that season, up to 15.9%. This past season he trimmed it to 12.8% in Triple-A and 12.2% in limited time with the Halos, but that is still something to keep an eye on in 2024.
This past season was spent mostly in Triple-A again, where Reyes accrued 40 1/3 innings pitched with a 5.58 ERA and a 29.9% strikeout rate. He also held a 7.45 ERA (6.36 FIP) in 9 2/3 innings with the Angels.
Reyes averages 96.5 miles per hour on his fastball, and pairs that with a slider that averaged 83 mph. He also worked his sinker back into his pitch mix this past season, throwing it 13% of the time. Back when he was with the Padres he also had a curveball in his arsenal, though he only threw eight of them.
It looks like the A's may attempt to alter his pitch mix. His fastball can hit 99, but it also had a 94.6 mph exit velocity against last season in a limited sample. That said, it's been his best pitch each of the past two seasons, and the goal here would be to keep hitters off of his heater.
Another thing to keep an eye out on is how hard he's throwing his slider with Oakland. Back in 2019, before the surgery, it was sitting at 88. This past season it was down five miles per hour, while his fastball velo was holding steady. Is that something the Angels had him do, or is that related to the injury?
The answer to that question could be the key to Reyes having a nice season in 2024. He's likely to start off in Triple-A Las Vegas, but offers an arm with experience for the A's to call upon when the injuries start piling up.