Right-hander Guillermo Mota tossed another scoreless inning and was told he is on the club, at least provisionally.
At this point in his career, what can we expect from Guillermo Mota?
To answer that question simply, not much. His role with the team is mop-up duty -- he'll be the guy to come in and eat innings. He won't be expected to pitch well, and he probably won't pitch well.
Last year, Guillermo Mota tossed 54 innings, posting an ERA+ of 94. His K rate -- 6.33 -- was a notch below league average, and his walk rate -- 3.67 -- was a notch above league average. He was your basic mediocre reliever.
Entering his age-37 season, he doesn't have much, if anything, left in the tank.
Take a look at his comps through age 36, courtesy of Baseball-Reference:
|
Of those guys, most didn't accomplish much post-36. And Guillermo Mota's age-36 season probably ranks as the third-worst.
Four guys never pitched again after their age-36 season, and four didn't even manage to post an ERA+ above 80 over the rest of their careers.
The two guys that were actually decent post-36, Mike Maddux and Steve Reed, were significantly better than Mota in their age-36 seasons.
So is Mota suitable for eating up some unimportant innings? Of course. But don't expect anything significant from him. In fact, I'd guess that this is his final major-league season. I'm even quite confident saying he won't be with this team by the end of the season; if he becomes as useless as Todd Wellemeyer and Denny Bautista were last year -- and that's a stark possibility -- he'll be DFA'd.
Until now, however, he'll suffice. Welcome (back?) to mop-up duty, Mota.
Follow SP on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook
