Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Goodbye, Chris Perez, for now, anyway. The much-maligned reliever has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with, oh, let’s say an ankle problem. (It’s officially “bone spurs,” but really, whatever. Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s not, maybe you don’t care.) I hardly need to take you through the ins and outs of Perez’ season, so let’s just say that only six pitchers with as many innings as he has show up below him on the FIP list, and most of those guys no longer have jobs. He wasn’t missing bats, he wasn’t preventing homers, and I think any lasting hope anyone might have had died with the “four consecutive walks” game last week. This was a long time coming. I’m still surprised it happened.
Replacing Perez on the 25-man roster is Carlos Frias, who I’d like to pretend that I have a lot on, except: nope. He’s a 24-year-old Dominican who has been kicking around the organization since 2007, and landing at No. 24 on Dustin’s midseason prospect list. Over the last three seasons, he’s started 58 of the 67 games he’s pitched in, and Chad named him on the list of possible Dan Haren replacements, though for now, there’s no indication that he’ll move into the rotation. That’s not to say he won’t, just that no such announcement has been made. On the other hand, you could wonder why, if it’s just to be a bullpen role, Jose Dominguez or Pedro Baez or Yimi Garcia wasn’t the call-up instead. I’m sure we’ll learn more soon. He’s well-rested, anyway, having not pitched since July 25.
On MLB.com, Frias was the Dodgers’ No. 18 prospect:
Though Frias has spent much of his minor league career as a starter, he has a brighter future as a reliever. He usually works at 92-95 mph as part of a rotation and has reached 99 coming out of the bullpen. His No. 2 pitch is a hard cutter/slider that pushes the upper 80s.
Frias has funky mechanics that often hamper his control and command. He shows some aptitude for a changeup and often throws it too hard, and he tips off his curveball by slowing down his delivery. He might be better off by shifting to relief and focusing on his two best pitches.
Needless to say, he’s not exactly a highly-touted prospect. He’s also not Perez, so, that’s a win. In order to make room for Frias on the 40-man, Paul Maholm was moved to the 60-day disabled list.
