Who is Luis Ysla?

It has long been rumored that the Dodgers have been looking for a left-handed lockdown reliever, so when they traded for Luis Ysala yesterday a lot of Dodger fans laid on the sarcasm “Yeah, that’s going to win it all for us.  What are they thinking?  They only want to deal off the bone pile.”

I don’t care if it is the trade deadline – FAZ is always looking for undervalued assets – even at the trade deadline.  “But they got Ysla for CASH and he can’t be worth much if all he cost was CASH!”  Ysla is 25 years-old and is a lefthander, but his time with the Red Sox ended when the Red Sox acquired Eduardo Nunez from the Giants on Wednesday. The Red Sox subsequently designated Ysla for assignment to open up a spot for Nunez, leading to their trade with the Dodgers.

Luis Ysla (pronounced ESS-LAH) is from Carabobo, Venezuela.  He is 6-1 and 185 and just turned 25 years old in April. If you look at his stats, there is nothing that excites you.  Ysla pitched himself out of the Boston organization’s plans by putting up a 5.05 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 6.2 BB/9 over 46 1/3 innings with Boston’s Double-A affiliate this season.  Yawn!  Next story.  There’s nothing to see here folks.  Move along.  HOLD ON!  Not so fast. The Red Sox got him from the Giants.  Here’s what Baseball America had to say about him before this season started:

In his first full season in the Red Sox organization, Ysla showed the power lefthanded arm that drew Boston to him in the August 2015 trade that sent Alejandro De Aza to the Giants. Ysla sits in the mid-90s with a two-plane fastball that misses bats. That pitch alone should play in the majors if he can throw it for strikes, though its value is mitigated by the fact that he hasn’t developed a consistent secondary pitch as a complement.

Given that Ysla’s fastball tends to cut to his glove side, he showed significant reverse splits while working as a reliever in 2016. Righthanded batters hit just .225 against him at Double-A Portland (plus one Triple-A appearance) while lefties mashed him at a .321/.404/.523 clip. Still, he struck out 30 percent of the lefties he faced.

If he improves his slider and uses it to attack the inner part of the plate, he could emerge as the primary lefthanded bullpen option on the farm, particularly now that the Red Sox have added him to the 40-man roster.

Ysla has been handicapped by having just one pitch.  If he can develop another – a slider, curve, change-up or cutter, he could be the lockdown reliever the Dodgers seek. It won’t be this year, but he will be a project for the Dodger’s organization.  He could flameout or he could be… Brad Hand!  This is a great transaction.  Maybe there is nothing to see here… or maybe, just maybe, this could be another Chris Taylor.  Either way, it’s worth the risk.  This is a classic case of FAZ trading for a guy BEFORE he is that guy!

Now back to your regularly scheduled trade deadline speculation.

Rants & Raves

• If Ryu pitches well Sunday, he could be gone Monday!  I’m just sayin’
• Rich Hill is now 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA and his pitching line is outstanding – 78 IP/59 Hits/90 K’s/1.18 WHIP – that’s all top-of-the rotation stuff, but in the last month, as he put the blisters in the rear view mirror, he has been unhittable:  In July, he’s 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA and 0.77 WHIP.  That’s the pitcher FAZ signed.
• Yasiel Sierra has been lights out this year.  Just sayin’
• Kay Bear Ruiz is the Dodgers #8 Prospect (Will Smith is #9),  By year end, Kay Bear may be top 3!  He should also be in AA soon and he’s only a teenanger!  The Dodgers are loaded with catchers. Some may be moved. Some of you want to trade Grandal, even though he is hitting .275 and handling the best pitching staff in baseball.  To say nothing about how much his teammates respect him.
• MINOR LEAGUE REPORT – Info on Alvarez and Verdugo
• Austin Barnes is a hot commodity – everyone wants him.
• Not many big deals have went down yet because maybe other GM’s are realizing that overpaying for starting pitching is dumb!  Just maybe!
• I hear Kershaw may be back by next weekend.
• Ryu verses Mad Bum toinght ESPN.  Ryu is due for a good game and Bum is due for a beatdown!