by Shane O'Leary - Roster News Bureau Chief

Several weeks ago when the River Carp shipped out SP Emerson Hancock, OF Daylen Lile, and a yet-postionally-undetermined 2027 1st round rookie draft pick (#8-#12) for the guaranteed 2027 #3 overall rookie pick, a 2028 2nd round rookie pick, and injured San Diego Padres reliever, Jeremiah Estrada, there was no shortage of angst among the fanbase. Though they could see the writing on the wall that a selloff was likely, sending out starting pitchers on an already-thin staff kicked the hornets' nest a bit. The fanbase was ready to be patient, but when ownership trades a now-pitcher for a player that hasn't even been drafted yet, the road seems to go ever on and on.

But today that trade looks a little better because Jeremiah Estrada, the throw-in piece of the deal, has finally been activated. In a league that tracks ERA, WHIP, K, Wins, Holds, and Saves, high leverage relievers like Estrada matter. And with the Carp building an armada of dominant relief pitchers to try to hack the deep rotations of the elder teams across the league, Estrada fits not only the structure of the current build, but the ideology of the river-dwelling vermin: dudes who strike guys out rule.

And man does Estrada strike guys out (246 K in 171 career innings). That's a 12.9 K/9 for anyone playing along from home, which is good for being a top-10 reliever through that lens.

There was a time when Estrada was a Chicago Cub. And he basically looked like he sucked. The sample was admittedly small (16 IP), but the ERA was ugly (7.37) and the WHIP was a fucking skyscraper (2.020). He wasn't just bad; he was unpitchable. And when unheralded prospects have any period of unpitchability, there's no pedigree to save them. He "peaked" as the Cubs #17 prospect in 2019, promptly falling off the Top-30 list by 2020, never to return. He was eventually claimed off waivers by the Padres in 2023.

And the Cubs look like dopes. Estrada has been one of the seemingly 22-headed monster that has come crawling out of the Padres bullpen every night over the last three years. If it's not Adrian Morejon, it's Robert Suarez; if it's not Suarez, it's Estrada; if it's not Estrada, it's Jason Adam; if it's not Adam, it's Mason Miller, who is scarier than a 22-headed monster all by himself. If it's not any of them, the Padres are down 8-1 and I may as well be taking the mound.

Anyway, I digress. Estrada strikes out 34% of batters. And the Carp are glad he's back.