Philadelphia Phillies: Ernesto Frieri’s fall from grace

By Chuck Booth | Apr 5, 2016

Mar 9, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Ernesto Frieri (43) in the dugout against the New York Yankees at a spring training baseball game at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies released relief pitcher Ernesto Frieri (even with their bullpen struggles). Today, let’s catalog his fall from grace.

The life of a relief pitcher in today’s MLB is volatile (just ask Jim Johnson among others), you can be on top of the world one day and out of baseball the next. Yesterday Ernesto Frieri learned that sad reality.

Frieri started his career with the San Diego Padres in 2009. During that time, Frieri looked like a promising young pitcher that would make an impact on the back end of the Padre’s bullpen. From 2009-2012 Frieri never had an ERA over 2.80 in limited appearances for the Padres. Those stellar numbers and his high-powered fastball earned Frieri a trade to the Los Angeles Angels.

Frieri was traded for Alexi Amarista and Dan Roach (Looking back it’s safe to say that the Padres won that trade). After joining the Angels Frieri had the best season of his career posting an ERA of 2.32 going 23/26 in save opportunities.

Frieri was excellent again in 2012 going 37/41 in save opportunities but his ERA jumped to 3.80 so the warning signs were there. Frieri always had a high walk rate but in 2012, he started playing with fire by allowing 7.2 hits per nine innings (a jump of three hits from the year prior).

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The wheels fell off during the 2014 season, Frieri had an ERA of 6.39 and lost the closer job for the Angels. Soon thereafter, Frieri was swapped to the Pittsburg Pirates for their own out of favor closer, Jason Grilli.

Frieri continued to implode in Pittsburg, putting up and ERA of 10.13 showing that even with their track record for turning around mediocre pitchers even a change of scenery couldn’t save Frieri. Because of his electric pitch arsenal, Frieri still got another chance, this time with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Last season for the Rays, Frieri was able to appear in 22 games with an ERA of 4.63. While those numbers seem like an improvement, numbers aren’t always what they seem. Friereri’s Fielding Independent Pitching (A pitcher’s performance if the non-routine plays that a defense makes behind them were to be removed) was 6.60. This number means that the Rays above average defense shaved two whole runs off of Frieri’s ERA.

During the offseason, Frieri was handed yet another lifeline, this time by the Philadelphia Phillies in the form of a minor league deal. The deal included incentives for if Frieri was to make the team out of spring training so it seemed like a win-win for Frieri and the Philadelphia Phillies.

During spring training, Frieri made seven appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies posting an 11.57 ERA in the grapefruit league. That performance earned Frieri a demotion from the Philadelphia Phillies to their AAA affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The time in the minors was supposed to allow Frieri time to return to his old delivery and work out issues with pitching mechanics.

For reasons unknown, the Philadelphia Phillies then decided to release Frieri from the organization overall. Possibly they sensed that there was no hope of getting a contribution from Frieri during the season or it may have been a release by mutual consent because Frieri saw no future within the organization.

Frieri was replaced on the Iron Pigs’ roster by right-hander Reinier Roibal. This release could spell the end of the road for Ernesto Frieri, especially looking at the shape of the Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen and their implosion on Opening Day.

Next: Was Opening Day a Microcosm of the 2016 Season for the Philadelphia Phillies?

While on the surface the release doesn’t look like much on the surface it paints the story of a relief pitcher in baseball. A pitcher can go from an effective reliever to an afterthought in a matter of seconds. So, next time you watch baseball and see an elite relief performance, cherish it, that pitcher may not be here tomorrow.

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