Minutes after the one o’clock trade deadline passed, it was announced that the Los Angeles Dodgers had acquired left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek from the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Dodgers have acquired LHP Adam Kolarek from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league outfielder Niko Hulsizer.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 31, 2019
While Kolarek fits the bill as a left-handed reliever, he doesn’t own off-the-charts peripherals like undderrated relievers they have added in recent years (i.e. Scott Alexander’s insanely high groundball rate). His 88 ERA-, 2.57 K/BB rate, and .289 wOBA are all good, not great. Kolarek is not a flamthrower, nor does he have a great spin rate.
However, Kolarek offers the Dodgers the depth that Andrew Friedman so greatly values. Only four months into the season, Kolarek has already given Tampa Bay over 40 innings of work, which is impressive for a relief pitcher in 2019. Aside from this, Kolarek’s nearly 65% groundball rate is something incredibly encouraging for a Los Angeles bullpen that has given up the long ball too much this season.
Kolarek enters a Dodgers bullpen that has been one of the best in all of baseball since the first of June, with an excellent 84 ERA- along with a Major League best .203 batting average against.
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