Dodgers: Breaking down the acquisitions of Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani

The Dodgers addressed a much needed issue of adding left-handed reliever depth at the trade deadline by acquiring Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani.

The best team in baseball got even better yesterday, adding three pitchers within an hour of the trade deadline. While Yu Darvish was certainly the headliner, the Dodgers addressed an important issue of left-handed depth out of the bullpen with Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani without giving up much in return.

In this piece we will mostly be taking a look at how these new additions fare against left-handed hitters, as that will be their main role coming out of the pen.

Tony Cingrani

Cingrani will be a project for the Dodgers. He has had success against lefties in the past, but this year he is giving up an average of .293 and an OPS above 1.000. Cingrani has been giving up tons of extra base hits to left-handers headlined by an astonishing 5.2 HR/9. His FIP is through the roof at 9.15.

One thing that stands out is his great K-BB % (23.3%). Cingrani and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt will have to work on keeping his fly balls down. As of now he is pacing a career high 70% of batted balls going for fly balls, where another career high of 29% of those are leaving the ballpark.

Compare those to his career numbers before this season of 34% and 9% and you start to see where there is A LOT of room for improvement.

Cingrani is still going to be pretty low on the totem pole come playoff time, but he is a guy who has had success in the past (see: 2013) and if he can somehow regain that form, could be a useful weapon. It should also be noted that he has two more seasons under control remaining, so it is not a shortsighted move.

Tony Watson

Watson, a free agent next offseason, has not been lights out this year. He started the year as Pittsburgh’s closer and has since been demoted. He is giving up a .303 BAA and a .316 wOBA, not numbers that make you jump out of your seat. Looking deeper can provide clearer analysis, however.

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In 46.2 IP this season Watson has given up seven home runs. Not one of those came at the expense of a left-handed hitter. In fact, of the 20 hits Watson has given up to LHH this season, only three have gone for extra bases.

An interesting tidbit shows that Watson ranks second in lowest exit velocity allowed, according to Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. That is something to be taken with a grain of salt, as it can be misleading with a small sample size. It can help explain how Watson has been affected by some bad luck this season.

The Dodgers are bound to test out Watson and Luis Avilan as the season winds down to see who will be more effective. Maybe the Dodgers think Watson should use his slider more often as it is his most effective pitch. Who knows what they have in store, but one thing is clear: the front office and coaching staff will have a plan.

Next: Five Best trades by Andrew Friedman's front office

The front office clearly sees an opportunity in these two. Putting them in positions to succeed, a change of scenery, and letting pitching coach Rick Honeycutt work some magic could lead to Cingrani and Watson adding to the Dodgers’ hopeful success in October.