Qualls gives Phillies a low-risk righty-on-righty option
Chad Qualls is no longer the pitcher who teamed with Brad Lidge in Houston from 2004 through 2007. But his price tag suggests he is not expected to be that guy. So what should you expect?
Qualls gives Phillies a low-risk righty-on-righty option
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Chad Qualls is no longer the pitcher who teamed with Brad Lidge in Houston from 2004 through 2007, posting a 3.39 ERA with 6.9 strikeouts and 2.7 walks over four seasons, nor is he the pitcher who saved 24 games in 2009. But his price tag -- $1.15 million on a one-year contract the Phillies announced earlier today -- suggests he is not expected to be that guy. So what SHOULD you expect?
A veteran pitcher who. . .
1) . . .can run through a righty or two or three in a late-and-close situation. Last year, Qualls held righties to a .218/.255/.282 line with 28 strikeouts and eight walks in 156 at-bats.
2) . . .should only be used against a lefty if the other options are Michael Martinez and death. Qualls allowed a .320/.381/.500 line with 15 strikeouts, 12 walks and four home runs in 135 plate appearances against southpaws last season. In 2010, lefties hit .392/.448/.583 in 135 plate appearances against him.
3) . . .will have to adjust to pitching outside of Petco Park. Qualls finished 2011 with a 3.51 ERA in 77 appearances, but much of his success came at home. Away from the wide open spaces of Petco, he posted a 5.05 ERA in 38 appearances.
4) . . .may need to be monitored early in the season. Last season, he held opponents to a .601 OPS before the All-Star Break, and an .811 OPS afterwards.
All things considered, this is a low-risk signing with some upside that, at the very least, gives Charlie Manuel another righty-on-righty option. Although Qualls' performance has dipped the last couple of seasons, his fastball velocity was still at his career average of 92.6 according to FanGraphs. He threw that fastball a career-low 60 percent of the time last season, while throwing his slider 40 percent of the time. Qualls is also a ground ball pitcher with a sparkling 1.30 GB/FB rate in his career.
With lefties Antonio Bastardo and Dontrelle Willis and righties like Qualls, Mike Stutes and Kyle Kendrick, Manuel should have a much better ability to play righty/lefty match-ups in front of his closer. If Jose Contreras stays healthy, it only adds to the mix (Contreras missed most of last season with an elbow injury and has just started throwing on flat ground after offseason surgery. The Phillies think he will be close to ready by Opening Day, but a lot depends on how he responds once he starts throwing off a mound).
Why couldn't Lidge get this contract?— SouthJerseyRob
7/23/2011 CB park Qualls gives up 3 HR to Phils. Qualls wasn't left kicking himself over allowing the game-tying home run to begin the inning to Ryan Howard, as he insisted his sinker down wasn't a bad pitch. Nor did he bemoan a similar sinker that Chase Utley hit over the right-field wall.The pitch that truly got away from Qualls was a wild pitch during an at-bat to Michael Martinez with runners on first and second base and with the game tied -- coming after Martinez tried twice unsuccessfully to bunt both Jimmy Rollins and Ross Gload into scoring position."I'm not sure if I lost focus, or what," Qualls said of the wild pitch that allowed Rollins and Gload to each move up 90 feet, to second and third base. "I'm not sure if I had a lapse, or what."With no need to bunt, Martinez took a big swing at a 1-2 pitch, sending it over the right-field wall for a 7-4 lead. Utley followed with his second home run of the game, and the Phillies (63-26) were on their way.— DUDESKINS- We didn't resign Lidge because Jamie Moyer throws harder than him anymore. His velocity is gone and he can't hold baserunners.— BringBackSteveJeltz
- What do I know? I thought we were loaded with young bullpen arms waiting to come up. I guess this means Contreras is behind schedule but I am not moved by this signing.— eman
- good pickup --but unfortunately since Willis is likely to be a disaster (based on empirical evidence -- in his last 5 seasons, his era has been bewteen 5.0 and mid 9's), and since Chollie isn't so good at the righty-lefty thing (which is why he often had Romero running up his pithcc count vs righties and Lidge getting plastered by lefties, and Francisco pinch-hitting in post-season vs. righties, etc) expect to se Qualls misused frequently with expected bad results— warbiscuit
- Charlie Manuel doesn't really play matchups, so that's a problem. My guess is that he'll compete with Stutes for 7th inning duty.— tgray83
- Alot of teams have said no to this guy already...not too excited.— bearsfriend
- Maybe Dubee sees something he can correct. That is why a change of scenery does some good once in a while. New coaching, new perspective, sometimes a new pitch makes a guy effective again.— UR2stupid
- Wasn't Chad Durbin still available? Obviously, RAJ is in his submarine trolling the bottom for roster additions.— drhoffman
- Willis gets lefties out. Qualls gets righties out. Two half-pitchers= one pitcher.— SEEK313
- Does anyone think Jose will be back strong this season?? I do not; the injury was very serious.— Koons
- If this means Herndon stays at AAA, I'm in favor of it. The only thing is... there are a few young arms at Lehigh Valley knocking at the door of The Bank. Stutes came out of nowhere did well last year.— SEEK313
- typical dopes on here. they're already at or above the luxury tax limit. you can never have enough bullpen depth, especially with experience. if you want to trust your bullpen to rookies with little or no bullpen experience, go right ahead. but it's a recipe for disaster. amaro did a very good job this offseason. a lot of depth at every postion and still the team to beat in the NL.
- The kids at Lehigh Valley will get their chance. Remember, there are ALWAYS injury relacements needed during the season. Not too thrilled about the Qualls signing, but I'm not thrilled about Willis either. Seems like the Phillies are putting together a very mediocre bullpen ahead of Papelbon.— SteveS11
- Seek313: Amen on Herndon.
Strangler: We all know the 'never have enough pitching' line. Thanks for the brilliant insight. But if we're at the cap, as you say, where do we get $1.15 million? And if we had other options, why not keep the $1.15 million for midseason flexibility?
Oh, never mind, we're just dopes.— eman - It's OK, eman. I'll be happy to hold your hand through this. As far as brilliant insight, if you're looking for it on the comments section of the High Cheese blog, you're a bigger dope than I originally thought. Secondly, the cap is a soft cap, not a hard cap. Do you know what that means? it means that the Phils have to pay a luxury tax and it's been pretty widely known that the cap was Amaro's ceiling for spending within the organization. They have to pay a percentage on every dollar they spend over it. Now, by paying Qualls $1.15M, the are just sneaking over it and may have to pay a few extra dollars on the tax. If they go out and spend a ton of money on someone else as everyone here wants, they have to spend even more money. Get it? Let me know if you need any further insight. I'm here for you.
- I agree with the other poster. Might as well have spent it on Lidge. He's a known quantity, tough on just righties and could have saved .15 million.— cuyatm
- I would've preferred DeFratus, whom I came away really impressed with, unless they intend to utilize Qualls as Papelbon's primary (right-handed) setup man.— PhightinPhil
- I'm sure we can trust Charlie to use Qualls correctly and not match him up against lefthanders just because they happen to be coming to the plate during an arbitrary inning, say the 7th. So great signing. Who says you should give your young hard throwing arms a chance to make the team and prove themselves?— Phils Phan 28
- pitchers pitchers,.,don t we have enough,,how about some hitters ,,we need better hitters than we got in the lineup,,,— hardball
- You never have enough pitching. Any pitcher is always just one pitch away from the DL. This is still January. I'm certain that hitters will be added before the start of the season. I've already read on MLB Trade Rumors the Phillies are quietly making Blanton available. Some of these acquisition everyone is complaining about may pay big dividends. — Jersey_Joe
- The lefty we got for Valdez is also a good lefty.— johnnykay
- This team is going to struggle to finish in third place. The Phillies had the opportunity to acquire Mike Adams or Heath Bell from the Padres at midseason, but in typical Phillies fashion, they ended up with Chad Qualls, the new Chad Ogea.— Freedom Fries
- I could write two posts here. One very pessimistic. The other optimistic. That's why I never predict. I do find negative pessimistic people tending to consistently gripe about everything. And those optimists amongst us either letting things play out or making grand promises of glory.— retzlaff
- Kids may get their chance yet - Jayson Stark reporting on ESPN through MLBTradeRumors that Blutto will be made available this spring.
This is a work in progress. 18 days until pitching and catching reports.
Stay malleable my friends.— 24sDad - The only thing I don't like is that it blocks the path of AAA near-ready talent like Savery. But it never hurts to have a veteran like this in the bullpen, even if his best days are behind him. He has to be excited to join this club though.— MattPSU
- DeFratus, Aumont, Savery et al need another 1/2 to full year in triple A. — scootch
- Doesn't give me the warm fuzzies about Contreras. Also, what's his numbers going to be in the friendly confines of CBP? For a mil, take a flyer on the guy, but guys signing 3 weeks before spring training are usually left overs for a reason....but I'd take him over Lidge.— scootch
- These pitchers do well IN SPITE of Dubee, not because of him.— Sackbutt
Comment removed.- I have an opinion but will not share until March 27. OK ?— NewMick314
- Waste of money— Ssteve115
- No worries, Boston Strangler is replacing Amaro as GM. Boston Strangler loves the Qualls move. For now. Or maybe not. Boston Strangler knows all about the luxury tax cap, which Amaro has said publicly we won't go over, but Boston Strangler, now that he's the GM, says we will. Which makes sense because Qualls is a perennial Cy Young contender. And he's pitched on so many contending teams in small ballparks. Oh, actually, maybe not so much...— eman
- Thans Ruben !!! johnnyu— john ullman
- Eh! type signing, just another arm to bring to camp with some experience. Had alot of appearances with SD last year in pitchers park. Can't hurt to take a look at this price, but I would have stuck with Hearndon or Lidge.
- I don’t expect Contreras to contribute. He’s at the end of his career anyway, not to mention the injury. Our young arms need more Lehigh Valley time, 1/2 season or more. Qualls could help a lot-a change of scenery has rejuvenated more than one relievers career.
- Maybe they'll sign a left-handed throwing shortstop next?— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
