Yankees Free Agent Rumors: Luke Gregerson

On Wednesday, I discussed a possible fit for the Yankees in the bullpen by the name of Casey Janssen. We continue our look at possible Plan B bullpen options by looking at a pitcher who has been on the West Coast for his entire Major League career. This pitcher got a chance to be in the postseason for the first time in 2014, but has been very durable over the course of his six-year career. 

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Luke Gregerson has been mainly a set-up man in his career, but the one thing you can count on him for is his durability. In the past three seasons, he has pitched in more than 70 games. His career-high in appearances came in 2010 when he made 80 appearances for the San Diego Padres. He also has had an ERA of below three in each of the last four seasons.

Greeorson was a 28^th round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 MLB Draft, but was traded to the Padres in 2008. He played five seasons in San Diego before signing with the Oakland A’s last year on a one-year, $5 million deal. He proved to be worth the investment throughout the regular season despite a rough eighth inning in the Wild Card loss to the Kansas City Royals.

With the A’s last season, Gregerson went 5-5 with an ERA of 2.12. He did have two rough months in April and August during the season, but he did not give up a run in eight July appearances and had a 0.73 ERA in 12 September appearances.

One of the things you have to like about the 30-year old righty is he is dominant against lefties. In 113 at-bats this past season, left-handed hitters scored just one run, had five doubles, and only hit .221 against him. While righties only hit .219, he did give up six home runs in 153 AB’s. You know Gregerson has the ability to get hitters on both sides of the plate.

In the past two seasons, his control got even better. His walk total went down from 18 to 15 and he has 20 or more holds in each of the last three seasons. The WHIP was actually identical at 1.01 in the last two seasons.

When you look at Gregerson’s pitch arsenal, he is not a player that is going to get people to strikeout at a frequent rate. Last season, he had 7.34 K/9 IP, which was the second lowest total of his career (5.5 in 2011). According to Fangraphs, his average velocity on the fastball was about 88 miles-per-hour last year. The go-to pitch for the righty is the slider, which he throws 47% of the time.

Another thing that might worry some fans about Gregorson in pinstripes is that he has spent the entirety of his career playing in pitchers’ parks. He had a 1.85 ERA at home last season, which was almost 60 points lower than his road ERA (2.43). For his career, Gregerson’s home ERA (2.02) is about a run and a half lower than his road ERA (3.60), according to Baseball Reference.

While Luke Gregerson had a great first season in the American League, he should still be low on the Yankees’ wish list in terms of relievers behind David Robertson and Andrew Miller. That being said, he is still a good fallback option for the Yankees because of his good control, a solid slider, and the ability to get both righties and lefties out at a consistent rate. There will be plenty of teams looking for Gregerson’s services, so it’s not a bad idea for the Yankees to at least be interested.