A look at the top unsigned left-handed relievers

Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to spring training in about two weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. Let's take a look at some of the top remaining left-handed bullpen options out there.

• Wandy Peralta: From 2021-23, Peralta logged 153 innings of 2.82 ERA ball with a 21% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and a huge 56.5% ground-ball rate as a member of the Yankees’ bullpen. In addition to keeping the ball on the ground at a strong clip, Peralta manages hard contact quite well. He’s been in the 88th percentile or better in opponents’ average exit velocity in each of the past four seasons, per Statcast. Peralta had some uncharacteristic command struggles in 2023. His walk rate jumped from 7.6% to 13.6%, and he plunked a career-high six batters — as many as he’d hit over the four previous years combined. Still, the track record is good, he kept his ERA below 3.00 even with the shaky command, and at 32 he’s younger than most of the other southpaws available. Both the Yankees and Mets have been reported to have interest, but there are surely quite a few other teams who’d be happy to plug him into the bullpen.
• Brad Hand: Hand, 34 in March, posted a 4.54 ERA in 35 2/3 innings with the Rockies before getting rocked for a 7.50 mark in 18 innings following a trade to the Braves. That was due largely to an alarmingly low 49% strand rate — a mark so low that it’s assuredly fluky. (Hand’s career 73% strand rate is right around the league average.) Hand had his best strikeout and walk rates since 2020 last season, whiffing a quarter of opponents against a 9.3% walk rate. He was one of MLB’s premier relievers from 2016-20 (2.70 ERA, 104 saves, 33.3% strikeout rate), and while those days are probably in the past, he posted serviceable or better ERA marks in 2021-22. Hand will probably command another affordable one-year deal.
• Jake Diekman: Diekman has never had even close to average command, but despite the fact that he has only once posted a walk rate under 11%, he’s still caved out a nice 12-year MLB career. He’s 37 now, but the southpaw’s 95.6 mph average heater in 2023 was a dead match for his average velocity over the preceding seven seasons. Diekman was rocked in 11 1/3 innings with the White Sox to begin the year but — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — completely turned things around upon being picked up by the Rays. In 45 1/3 frames, Diekman recorded a sparkling 2.18 ERA while striking out 28.6% of his opponents. Diekman throws hard, keeps the ball on the ground and misses plenty of bats, but command will always be an issue for him. A big league deal could still be in the cards for him.
• Aaron Loup: There’s no getting around Loup’s ugly year in 2023 when he posted a 6.10 ERA with his lowest strikeout rate since 2014 and highest walk rate since 2017. But Loup has an extensive track record at the big league level, including a terrific run from 2017-22 when he notched a tidy 3.06 ERA in a combined 241 innings across six seasons. Now 36 years old, Loup will look to bounce back to prior form — presumably with a new team. To his credit, Loup kept the ball on the ground at a strong 46.6% clip and still had a nice opponents’ batted-ball profile, per Statcast (87.9 mph average exit velocity, 37.2% hard-hit rate). Last year’s sky-high .373 average on balls in play undoubtedly drove up his ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.36) and SIERA (4.33), while still not painting a great picture, were far kinder to Loup than his more rudimentary ERA.
• Jarlin Garcia: Garcia didn’t throw a single pitch in 2023 due to a nerve issue in his biceps. However, he only just turned 31 years old on Jan. 18 and enjoyed very strong results from 2019-22. In that time, the lefty tossed 202 2/3 innings of 2.89 ERA ball between Marlins and Giants. Garcia averages 93.4 mph on his heater, and while his 21.6% strikeout rate from 2019-2022 was a couple of percentage points shy of average, his 7.2% walk rate was better than average and he kept the ball on the ground at a solid 42.1% clip. Garcia has benefited from low BABIPs and playing his home games in cavernous settings, but he’s still a capable middle reliever who’d be a lock for a big league deal if not for last year’s injury. He won’t be game-ready for the start of spring training but recently resumed throwing and is expected to be back on a mound around May 1.

Honorable mentions: Joely Rodriguez, Richard Bleier, Amir Garrett, Justin Wilson