The Dodgers are looking make drastic improvements to their bullpen this off-season. It’s no surprise that they have significant interest in Darren O’Day.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were done in last season by their sub-par bullpen. Their bullpen had no reliable arms other than J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen. The Dodgers have shown significant interest in Darren O’Day. O’Day is considered by many to be the best relief pitcher available in free agency.
The #Dodgers are showing significant interest in free agent reliever Darren O'Day, according to an MLB source.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) November 11, 2015
O’Day has some concerns about his age as he is 33 years old. However, his track record speaks for itself. Since the Orioles claimed him off waivers early in the 2011 off-season, O’Day has been one of the best relievers in baseball. He has proven his durability by pitching in the 13th-most games and pitching the 11th most innings of any relief pitcher since the beginning of the 2012 season. He has the 21st-lowest walk rate and only four relievers. with a lower walk rate have a better strikeout rate than him (9.68 strikeouts per nine innings pitched).
Darren O’Day would be an excellent addition to the Dodgers bullpen because an O’Day and Jansen combo in the eighth and ninth innings could be quite lethal. O’Day is a different pitcher than Jansen. Despite his relatively high strikeout rate, O’Day has the fifth slowest fastball velocity of any qualified reliever since 2012 (86.8). He also has the 11th slowest slider velocity. O’Day relies heavily on those two pitches. Jansen had an average fastball velocity of 92.5 miles per hour in 2015.
O’Day likely doesn’t have closer type stuff. That said, O’Day is extremely valuable because of his versatility. He has proven that he is best when he doesn’t have a set inning that he pitches in. Orioles manager Buck Showalter has used him in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings since 2012. O’Day had success no matter what kind of situation he pitched in.
Darren O’Day has a slightly above average home runs per nine innings rate (0.82) since 2012. That shouldn’t scare the Dodgers away because O’Day managed that in the brutal AL East while playing roughly half of his games in a ball park that is one of the most hitter-friendly in baseball. That numbers would likely shrink at Dodgers Stadium.
The Dodgers are likely the favorites to sign O’Day because they are in a position to offer him more money than any other team. Darren O’Day is worth whatever he gets paid as long as the contract isn’t for more than three years.
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