Jason Motte is a relief veteran who was asked to eat innings in the Atlanta bullpen, but had terrible peripherals over the course of the 2017 season.
What were the expectations?
The Braves agreed to a deal with Motte on April 11 in hopes that he could give them another veteran option for their bullpen.
Jason Motte 2017 Projections/Stats
Name | W | L | ERA | Gm | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP | WAR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | W | L | ERA | Gm | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | FIP | WAR |
Jason Motte (ZiPs) | 2 | 1 | 4.88 | 38 | 31.3 | 6.89 | 2.87 | 5.16 | -0.2 |
Jason Motte (Actual) | 1 | 0 | 3.54 | 46 | 40.2 | 5.98 | 4.43 | 5.44 | -0.4 |
2017 Results
Motte began the season at Gwinnett where he allowed one run over 8.1 innings. He was promoted to Atlanta by the end of April and ended up appearing in 46 games for the Braves while posting a 3.54 ERA. However, his peripheral numbers suggest that his good ERA was more of an aberration.
Motte’s FIP was 5.44 and his xFIP was exactly two runs higher than his ERA at 5.54. He benefited greatly from an opponent’s BABIP of just .200. His walk rate nearly doubled over his career rate to 12.1 percent but he was able to survive a lot of nights due to his ability to keep (or as a result of keeping) the ball on the ground and in the yard.
2018 Outlook
Motte is a free agent this offseason and at this point it would be surprising if he was back in a Braves uniform next season.