Before the season began, the Oakland A's and Miami Marlins made a trade, with reliever A.J. Puk going to Miami and outfielder JJ Bleday headed back to Oakland. A lot of A's fans online were furious at the move since Puk has the potential to be a legit closer, while Bleday had struggled in his first stint in the big leagues.
As we approach August, Puk and Bleday are tied in fWAR at 0.5 wins above replacement. Heading into Sunday's games, Bleday had a 103 wRC+ (100 being league average) with a .208 batting average and a .324 on-base percentage (OBP). On Sunday, JJ went 2-for-3 with a walk and his eighth homer of the season, so that wRC+ will improve a little.
Over his last 15 games, the 25-year-old outfielder has hit .231 with a .355 OBP and three homers after making a slight adjustment at the plate. While the average is a little below league average (.248) this season, his OBP on the year is higher than the .319 average for the league, and drawing walks has always been a big part of his game. He's walking at a 14.6% clip on the season and striking out 21.9% of the time. That's up two percent on his walk rate, while also cutting the strikeouts by a little over six percent from last season.
Bleday has shown that he's a guy that could be a part of this team's future.
The same goes for A.J. Puk in Miami. Part of the calculus for this trade from an Oakland perspective had to be that the lefty reliever had thrown the most innings in a season since he was drafted, and they wanted to capitalize on that via trade instead of rolling the dice on the injury front again. Puk missed about three weeks earlier in the year, but has been fairly healthy overall while collecting 15 saves in 20 opportunities.
With the Marlins, Puk has totaled 31.2 innings in 33 games, holds a 4.26 ERA with a 3.54 FIP and a 2.99 expected ERA. League average ERA for a reliever this season is 4.14, and while he comes in just above that, his peripherals suggest he's pitched better than the results show. I said when the trade was made that Puk had gotten a little lucky with the runners he'd left on for other relievers last season not coming around being a boost for his ERA. This year, only one of the six runners he has bequeathed have come around to score, which is right about the same rate he held last season.
All in all, this looks like a win-win deal for both clubs at the moment. While neither player is setting the world on fire, both are holding their own in their first season with a new team, and showing that there could be improvements coming along the way.
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