Today we randomly — ok not randomly, it’s that I have things to say about them — focus on 3 players in the A’s organization.
Jordan Diaz: DFA
One, Jordan Diaz, was at risk of being out of the organization was he was DFA at age 23 just a couple years after being considered one of the A’s brightest hitting prospects. Firstly, there is a misperception among fans that when a player is designated for assignment, it means the team doesn’t want them anymore. It is actually not uncommon for a player who is DFA to survive the 10-day purgatory period without being traded and then to clear waivers and stay with their current organization, only now off of the 40 man roster.
Diaz was always likely to clear waivers because not only would he require a big league roster spot, he doesn’t really have a position. As a “bat first” player who wasn’t hitting at the time, Diaz was unlikely to draw interest as a big league DH or bench player you would never use as a defensive replacement or pinch runner.
So the A’s took a calculated gamble that they would keep Diaz and it paid off. And since the DFA gave Diaz a second chance with the same team, Jordan has taken off. Since rejoining the Aviators, Diaz has hit in all 8 games going 15 for 31 with 2 doubles and 2 HRs. Suddenly his season stats are actually decent (.271/.336/.426) but more importantly since returning to the place he never left, Diaz has looked like a different man.
Is this utterly coincidental? Perhaps, but as a rebuttal I submit the following exhibit: Liam Hendriks. It’s easy to forget that when the A’s acquired Hendriks he was an ok reliever but nothing special: good stuff but strangely hittable with very inconsistent results. For most of his time with the A’s Hendriks was anything but dominant, posting ERAs in 2016-18 of 3.76, then 4.22 and 4.13.
Hendriks became so fungible that in June of 2018 the A’s DFA’d him — and in doing so, apparently resurrected his career. Hendriks cites the DFA as being the ultimate “wake up call,” not just a prime motivator but also proof that he needed to change and adjust rather than just throwing the ball as hard as he could and hoping for good results.
Hendriks blossomed in his return to Oakland, posting ERAs of 1.78 and 1.80 in 2019 and 2020, serving as a lock down closer and earning a 3-year contract with the White Sox in free agency to serve as their closer. (Hendriks was again brilliant in 2021 and 2022 but has since been slowed down by non-Hodgkins lymphoma and a subsequent arm injury.)
A DFA can risk losing a player entirely, such as was the case when Oakland removed Freddy Tarnok from the 40 man roster only to have him be swooped up by the Phillies. But it can also serve as a crucial wake up call and motivator for a player stuck in old habits and mindsets, in need of a reminder that there are plenty of prospects behind them waiting to take their spot if they stall or refuse to adjust.
It will be interesting to see what Diaz does in larger than an 8 game sample, but at least for a week the A’s are looking mighty shrewd for issuing a needed wake up call to Diaz and then keeping him around to, hopefully, figure it out and blossom as Hendriks did. Time will tell. (And he needs to learn how to play defense somewhere.)
Joey Estes
Estes is being compared to Tim Hudson for his “bulldog mentality,” and that’s high praise indeed. Estes is generally regarded as being more of a “back end SP” who could be a valuable #4 SP but that is quite different from Huddy’s rise to win 222 career games at the front end of playoff caliber teams.
Estes actually throws harder (averaging 93.1 MPH where Huddy sat at 90.4 MPH over his career). The big difference, performance-wise, between Estes and Hudson? It’s one staggering statistic.
Hudson, with the sinker as his bread and butter, boasted a 58% ground ball rate in his career. Estes, on the other hand, is the opposite extreme. In his 7 big league starts Estes’ ground ball rate is a rather stunningly low 20.9%. A lot of fly balls means more HRs and fewer DPs, and generally more extra base hits among the hits allowed.
Estes shares many qualities with fellow SP J.P. Sears. Both throw fastballs that are solid but not spectacular, both believe in their fastball and can ride it effectively up in the zone, both have good secondary pitches they can mix in, both attack the strike zone and limit walks, and both inherently struggle to keep the ball in the park due to their fly ball tendencies.
Where the two may be diverging is that this season, Sears is mixing in a new 2-seam fastball. With it, Sears’ ground ball % in 2024 is 36.6%, up from 29.1% last season. Down are the ERA (3.93 compared to 4.54) and the HRs (0.98 per 9 IP compared to last year’s frightening 1.78).
I would put it out there that for Estes to take the next step forward, he needs to be able to coax at least a few ground balls and not rely on keeping fly ball after fly ball in the park. The ability to induce a key DP, or to reduce a power hitter to how hard they can hit it on the infield, is a necessary skill to have in your back pocket.
We will see if the A’s work with Estes to mix in a 2-seam sinker and if so whether the 22 year old takes to it. He is young, talented, has the right mindset — but so long as his GB% sits at around 20% he isn’t going to move beyond “solid #4 SP” material.
Miguel Andujar
For one week he was the A’s savior, basically an automatic hit most likely smoked somewhere. Then after opening 13 for 30 with 2 HRs, Andujar is in a sad 1 for 20 funk. Which one is the real Miguel Andujar?
The answer to this trick question is: both. Because the two stretches have something unsettling in common and that is: 0 walks. That’s right, Andujar has now taken 50 plate appearances without drawing a single walk.
So for a while Andujar was getting some good pitches to hit and he wasn’t missing them. Lately he is getting a lot of chase pitches to hit and he isn’t taking or hitting them. He has shown that he can mash strikes hard and far. He has also shown that if offered only junk he will still swing, but will more often strike out (as he has done 4 times in those last 20 PAs) or make weak contact.
I have been encouraged by Andujar’s very passable play in LF, nothing spectacular but good enough to secure a lineup spot for him if he is hitting. But as sensational as his first week was, the league has quickly figured out an easy way to get him out: don’t give him anything to hit and let him get himself out.
It’s one thing not to walk a lot and “a whole nother thing” not to walk, like, ever. Let’s see what the next 50 PAs bring — whether Andujar insists that pitchers come into the strike zone to get him out or whether he continues to oblige by bailing out pitchers who would, all things considered, prefer not to challenge him in the heart of the zone.
Funky Cold Medina today at 1:07pm with the A’s trying to snap a 4-series losing streak.
