Observations On Braves Waiver Claim Victor Arano
The Braves made two waiver claims Friday: Victor Arano and Kyle Garlick, who were recently designated for assignment by the Phillies.
These two obviously aren’t prospects anymore, and I normally don’t write about waiver claims, but there’s enough intrigue in these additions to give them a mention, especially Arano.
Arano will turn 26 next month and is a right-handed reliever. He’s had nothing but success in a major league bullpen, especially in 2018 when he posted a 2.73 ERA over nearly 60 innings. He pitched in some high-leverage situations for that Phillies team and became a reliable late-innings reliever.
However, Arano has been bitten multiple times by the injury bug, and it has prevented him from building on that 2018 season.
He went on the injured list early in 2018 for a strained rotator cuff, although he bounced back to post that excellent season. He suffered elbow inflammation early in 2019 and eventually underwent arthroscopic surgery in late May that effectively shut down his season. He was expected to be a part of the Phillies bullpen for 2020 but experienced a shoulder strain during offseason workouts. He reportedly wasn’t able to throw regularly during the shutdown and was forced to come back slowly during summer camp. Once he did return, Arano began throwing regularly at the Phillies alternate site. But his velocity didn’t bounce back and he was sitting 90-91 instead of his usual 93-94.
So, Arano hasn’t been on track since 2018 because of multiple injuries. But the COVID shutdown messed with his ability to ramp up his innings after the shoulder strain, and he never bounced back from it.
When Arano is healthy, he’s a solid middle reliever on a playoff team, capable of the occasional high-leverage spot. That’s the appeal that drew the Braves to claim him off waivers last week.
He’s only 93-95, touching 96, but he’s shown the ability to work eye levels on the four-seamer and get whiffs above barrels. The pitch jumps despite average velo because he tunnels it well with the slider. In one particular matchup against Gregor Blanco in 2018, Arano beat him to the spot above the barrel at 96 for the third strike. It’s the product of having to worry about the slider down.
Arano’s slider has the ability to induce both whiffs and weak contact, sitting mid-80s with true two-plane action and late bite off the same path as the four-seamer. The shape varies between cut-like action that runs hard to the glove side at 86-88, to downward-breaking, curve-like shape at 83-85, typically spotted arm side.
The slider is not a secondary, though. The slider is Arano’s main pitch and the fastball is considered his secondary. This seems like a weird concept, but he threw the slider 56 percent of the time in 2018. This shows how strong the pitch is and how much confidence he has in it, recording a 43 percent whiff rate on the pitch in 2018.
I don’t have evidence of this, but I’m guessing Arano’s lack of velo after the shoulder strain also showed in the slider by coming out flatter with less bite. One typically comes with the other.
If Arano can regain the sharpness of his slider and four-seam velo, the Braves have a solid waiver claim here, capable of impacting the major league bullpen. He should be considered a flier, though, as are most waiver claims. Relievers are volatile, and Arano is another example by his career track to this point. No harm to the Braves if the stuff doesn’t bounce back.
Quick note on Garlick: He turns 29 in a few days and can provide right-handed pop off the bench. He’s worth the claim for depth purposes and likely spends much of his time at Gwinnett, but when put in the right matchups, he can provide power in a pinch.