Is it Time for Athletics to Take Another Look at Blevins?
The A’s are already reasonably heavy with left-handed relievers. At least they will be when/if the season starts up again after the COVID-19 coronavirus has run its course.
But baseball has proven over the years that it’s good to have options. And with the news from Baseball America that former A’s left-handed reliever Jerry Blevins has been released by the San Francisco Giants, maybe it’s time for the A’s to take another swing at Blevins, who was a key part of the Oakland bullpen from 2007-13.
True, he had a spring training ERA of 22.09 in six games, but for a veteran – Blevins is 36 – that’s not particularly damning. A better number would be the 3.90 ERA he posted in 45 games for the Braves last year as Atlanta took the National League East title with 97 wins.
No team can add to its roster during the current shutdown, so the A’s won’t be calling anytime soon, but there will be a second spring training when/if baseball comes back, and the A’s might want to give Blevins another look.
As it is, Oakland’s bullpen has two lefties sure to make the roster in whatever sort of 2020 happens – Jake Diekman and T.J. McFarland. There is a third possibility with the roster for the first month due to hold 29 men, Lucas Luetge. But he hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2015. And he’s not on the 40-man roster.
The problem for Blevins, that he’s been a lefty specialist, the man a manager goes to when they need to shut down a big left-handed bat in a big situation late in games.
Under new rules this year, however, relief pitchers now have to face a minimum of three batters or pitch until the inning’s end, so there’s not much room for a one-and-done guy.
But the A’s think they’re going to be a winner, as well they should after back-to-back 97-win seasons, and Blevins has been pitching with winners, including three recent first place teams, the Braves in 2019, the Mets in 2015 and the Nationals in 2014. Of course, the A’s finished first in both 2012 and 2013 with Blevins in the bullpen, so that’s five first-place teams he’s pitched for in the last eight years.
Can Blevins pitch to multiple batters as he would have to do? It might well be worth it to the A’s to invite him for a look in the second spring to see.