Williams Jerez Looking to Prove Worth After Designation for Assignment
With only two left-handed options currently on the active roster, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been stockpiling left-handed pitching talent. One of the guys they picked up last season was left-handed pitcher Williams Jerez after the San Francisco Giants designated him for assignment. Jerez spent a little time in the Pirates bullpen at the end of the 2019 season but was designated for assignment after the season. Jerez was able to clear waivers and earn invitation to Spring Training and is out to prove his worth to the Pirates organization.
In six games with the Pirates last season, Jerez pitched to a 7.36 ERA in 3.2 innings of work. He gave up three earned runs on five hits while walking three and striking out five during his stint. Jerez has bounced around between four different organizations over the past two and a half seasons and has not appeared in more than 17 games at the MLB level in any of those seasons. Jerez is now trying to live up to his second-round draft pick status and earn a spot with the Pittsburgh bullpen full time.
Jerez was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox from his hometown of Santiago Dominican Republic. He was drafted out of high school and sent to play for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox that season. He performed well pitching to a 2-1 record and a 2.22 ERA in one relief appearances. Jerez featured something that few young arms present with both good control and am ability to strikeout hitters at a high rate. In 24.1 innings of work with the GCL Red Sox, Jerez struck out 27 batters while only walking five, helping lead him to his early success.
He wouldn't stick in Rookie Ball for long, as he got called up to Class A Short Season Lowell Spinners by season's end. He was still effective but his ERA spiked to 4.50 in five appearances for the Spinners. He struck out 13 batters in those 10 innings of work but ended up walking six in those 10 innings. He also got hit around more, giving up 13 hits in those 10 innings of work but, with a fastball averaging in the mid-'90s, he had some solid stuff and all the makings of a strong back-end reliever.
Jerez's 2015 season saw him start the year with Class Low A Greenville and finish the year with Double-A Portland. He started off with the Greenville Drive and bounced back from his struggles on Low A. He dropped his ERA to a career-low 2.06 ERA in 39.1 innings of work while going 1-1. His strikeout numbers continued to soar and his control seemed to come back as he struck out 43 and walked just 10 during that timeframe. His success would continue in his short time with Class High A Salem Red Sox as he allowed just one earned run in 12.1 innings of work. After succeeding at every level of class A ball, the Red Sox decided to promote Jerez to Double-A at the end of the 2015 season.
He once again went through growing pains as he transitioned to Double-A, with his ERA going up to 3.65 in 22 games with the Sea Dogs. He wasn't as effective as he was at precious levels striking out just 31 batters in 36 innings of work while walking 17. This is when Jerez saw his quick progression through the Red Sox minor league system come to a screeching halt. He would spend the entire 2016 season in Double-A and couldn't seen to get into a groove going 1-6 with a 4.71 ERA. As he was trying to tap into his velocity, his control suffered and he ended up walking 30 batters in 65 innings of work leaving him more susceptible to allowing runs to score. However, he saw his strikeout ability come back as he struck out 65 batters in 65 innings of work.
With Jerez's career seeming to stall, the Red Sox would designate him for assignment for the first time in his career. He would clear waivers and be assigned once again to Double A Portland and the move seemed to light a fire for Jerez. He came back the next season and dropped his ERA to 3.16 in 29 games for the Sea Dogs. He went back to dropping his velocity to regain his control and walked just 17 in 51.1 innings of work. With his control back in tow, Jerez earned his promotion to Triple A Pawtucket and appeared in nine games over the final two months of the season posting a 3.75 ERA.
2018, was a year of change for Jerez after appearing in 34 games for Pawtucket and posting a 3.63 ERA. He was traded, along with RHP Ty Buttrey to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for Ian Kindler and cash at the trade deadline. Jerez would pitch just four games at Triple A Salt Lake City before being called up to the Angels for his MLB debut. He would make his MLB debut on August 7th, 2018 against the Detroit Tigers throwimg two scoreless innings of work. His first six outings in the Major Leagues were all scoreless appearances and he struck out eight batters in his first seven innings of work.
However, his next six appearances ended the opposite way as he gave up at least one run in his next six outings and saw his ERA jump to 6.55. He would end the stretch pitching scoreless outings in five of his final six appearances and went into the off-season with momentum on his side. With some success at the MLB level under his belt, Jerez was traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for pitcher Chris Stratton. However, he would appear in just six games for the Giants in 2019 bouncing beteeen the Major and Minor Leagues. He walked six batters in his 6.2 innings of work and the Giants designated him for assignment on September 10th.
The Pirates needed some help in the bullpen, so they took a chance on Jerez singing him and bringing him up to the 40-man roster. He is now getting his second chance with the Pirates as he offeres some left-handed bullpen depth for the team. Jerez did not make the first round of cuts in Spring Training and has since been assigned to Triple A where he will work on his control and getting those strikeouts. With the Pirates looking for another left-handed option in the bullpen, if Jerez succeeds, he could find his way to the Pirates in 2020.
With a guy who throws with high velocity like Jerez, you always run into the problem of having a lot of hard hit balls. As the saying goes, the faster they come in the faster they go out and this problem held true for Jerez. In 2019, he allowed a 53.3 hard hit percentage and an average exit velocity of 90.9 miles per hour. For a guy who gives up contact on pitches in the zone 89.7% of the time, this is a problem as he is not missing many bats. One good thing about the hard hit percentage is the fact that about 50% of those hits are groundballs.
It is a good sign that Jerez is keeping the ball on the ground because that means hitters can't take advantage of the gaps. The results showed last season as Jerez only gave up five extra base hits and just two doubles. Groundball pitchers generally have success in PNC Park, especially left-handers, because opposing hitters cant take advantage of the short porch in right field. For Jerez, this could be a huge boost to his career and allow him to get to those mid-3's ERAs that he was posting in the Minor Leagues.
Jerez features a three-pitch mix out of the bullpen with a heavy fastball slider mix. His fastball is his most used pitch at 55.2%, but also his least effective pitch against opposing hitters. He allowed a .476 batting average against the heater, but seven of the 10 hits he allowed were singles. He struck out just one batter with the heater and liked to work it up and away from left-handed batters. After showing the heater, he drops in the slider 32.7% of the time and gets a majority of his outs off that pitch. Opponents hit just 0.77 off the slider going 1-13 against the pitch. It has a Whiff percentage of 30.4 and a put away percentage of just over 31% meaning it misses bats more often than not.
One thing that hasn't transitioned into the Majors for Jerez was his strong control that he had throughout the Minor Leagues. In the minors he consistently managed to keep his walk percentage down. However, in 25.1 innings worked in the Big Leagues, Jerez has walked 17 batters while only striking out 24. Part of the problem is that Jerez is not getting the chase numbers that you like to see from a MLB reliever. Opposing hitters chased the ball just 26.6% of the time, two percent lower than League average. With a good slider in his arsenal, Jerez can use the fastball to set-up his off-speed stuff and generate more outs. If he can work the slider in more often, it could make his fastball that much more effective and translate into more success at the MLB level.
With limited left-handed options available for the Pirates, and plenty of minor league depth, Triple A is going to be a battle of left-handed options. With Jerez featuring good velocity and solid control numbers throughout his Minor League career, he could become a prime candidate for a call-up throughout the season. Getting back to basics is going to be one of the keys to Jerez's success as he looks to avoid trying to amp up velocity and just stick with his good control. His breaking stuff has shown promise and if he can work that in more with his fastball, he could find success with the Pirates.
Prediction: 0-0, 4.33 ERA (19 Games MLB)
I think Williams Jerez will get some time at the Major League level, but I don't think it will be very long. While I think his ERA will dip a little bit, but his control is still a huge question at the Big League level. He will have to generate more chases from opposing hitters and working with Jacob Stallings and Luke Maile might help those numbers, but it will depend on how he can locate his pitches. Look for Jerez to throw a short stint with Pittsburgh before more than likely getting designated for assignment by the end of the season.
As of now, the season is expected to begin somewhere around May 25th. Until then, we will continue to look at the men who make up this year's team and their contributions in 2020.
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