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St. Louis Cardinals Acquire LHP Zach Duke from Chicago White Sox

By Patrick Karraker

Jul 6, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Zach Duke (33) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago defeats New York 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 6, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Zach Duke (33) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago defeats New York 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cardinals made a very sensible bullpen addition on the day before the trade deadline.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Sunday morning that they’ve acquired lefthanded reliever Zach Duke from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Charlie Tilson. Tilson was ranked as the Cardinals’ number 12 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

The 33-year-old Duke, who is a free agent at the end of 2017, has found a successful second career as a lefty specialist since being converted to the role by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014. He got off to a strong start as a 22-year-old starting pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2005, but his career quickly spiraled, and he found himself bouncing around to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, and Cincinnati Reds before he decided to fully embrace a relief role.

In 53 appearances this year (which leads the American League), Duke has a 2.63 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 42 strikeouts and 16 walks in 37 2/3 innings pitched. While Duke will be expected to get lefties and righties out with the Cardinals, it’s worth noting that he’s got an aggressive reverse split this season, meaning that he pitches much better against righthanded hitters than he does against lefties. That actually might be a good thing for the Cardinals, as Tyler Lyons is perfectly capable of dominating lefties, while the bullpen doesn’t really have an obvious “righty specialist.”

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While it’d make the most sense for Duke to bump lefty Dean Kiekhefer (more of an actual lefty specialist) off the 25-man roster for now, Duke’s responsibility might actually be more to lessen the load on Jonathan Broxton, who has been somewhat exposed when cast into late-inning roles over the past couple months. According to Baseball Reference, Duke has faced 49 hitters in “high leverage” situations this year, and he’s allowed just 10 hits (including one homer) and one walk while striking out 14.

It could be argued that the 23-year-old Tilson, a second-rounder in 2011, was having a career year in his first campaign at Triple-A Memphis. Over 100 games, Tilson was hitting .282/.345/.407 with four homers and 15 stolen bases. Though Tilson’s future is at least moderately bright as a major-leaguer–he seems to profile as a solid fourth or fifth outfielder–there wasn’t a logical situation in which he was going to play a significant big-league role for the Cardinals any time soon.

Next: Could Harrison Bader Change the Dynamic of the Cardinals' Outfield?

The Cardinals have Matt Holliday, Tommy Pham, Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Kolten Wong, and Brandon Moss all capable of making contributions in the major-league outfield this year, and if for some reason that group is significantly decimated in the near future, they’ve also got star prospect Harrison Bader, 40-man roster players Anthony Garcia and Jose Martinez, and intriguing power hitter David Washington waiting in the wings at Triple-A.

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