Jharel Cotton is Back
In case you missed it, Jharel Cotton is back in the Major Leagues and is pitching out of the Texas Rangers’ bullpen. Jharel Cotton is an easy player to root for; he was drafted by the Dodgers in the 2012 draft out of East Carolina University. In the summer of 2016 in need of a pitcher and an outfielder, the Dodgers sent Cotton and Frankie Montas to Oakland in a trade for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick. Cotton impressed his new organization pretty quickly, coming within one out of throwing a perfect game for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in August of 2016.
His performance in Nashville earned him a call-up to the big squad in Oakland in September of 2016. Making five starts down the stretch for what was a rebuilding Oakland team, Cotton pitched very well: In those five starts, he threw a combined 29.1 innings, allowing only 20 hits and four walks against 23 strikeouts while posting a 2.15 ERA.
That was good enough to earn him a spot in the rotation for the improving Athletics going into 2017. The 2017 season was an up and down one for Cotton (more down than up if we’re being honest) but he still finished behind Sonny Gray and Sean Manaea as the team’s third-best starter. Cotton started using his changeup less frequently and his slider more frequently in that 2017 season. Whether this was by personal choice or at the direction of the organization, we don’t know, but it is worth noting because Cotton’s changeup is a very good pitch – his slider is not.
The quickly improving A’s headed into 2018 with high hopes (justifiably so it would turn out as they would go on to win 97 games on the season). With Sonny Gray now in New York getting abused by Yankees’ fans, Cotton also had high hopes entering spring training in 2018 as Oakland’s number two starter behind Manaea. The optimism didn’t last long, as Cotton rather unfortunately suffered a tear in his throwing elbow in spring training, necessitating Tommy John surgery.
That was 42 months ago.
In the time since that fateful elbow pop, Cotton jumped from the frying pan into the fire. While recovering from his elbow surgery, he suffered a hamstring tear which also required surgery. Oakland sold his rights to the Chicago Cubs in the fall of 2019, but Cotton never got on a mound for the Cubs. He was released from the Cubs last September to clear up room on their 40-man roster. This is the type of move that happens when a player is no longer considered among the 1200 or so players who can help an MLB team win now. Cotton was approaching his 29th birthday.
Then, the Texas Rangers called. They offered a minor league contract with a chance to earn the league minimum in 2021. After throwing 42 innings for Triple-A Round Rock earlier this season, Cotton was called to up to the big club. On July 30th, now at age 29, Cotton stepped onto a big league mound for the first time in 46 months. Called in to start the sixth inning with the Rangers trailing 7-4 to Seattle, Cotton got himself a 1-2-3 inning on two flyouts and a pop-up in the debut of the second part of his career.
So far in the bullpen of 2021, Cotton has simplified matters by throwing his two best pitches (four-seam fastball and changeup) more frequently, while throwing his slider less often and abandoning his sinker altogether. So far the results have been good: In 20.2 innings over 15 relief appearances, Cotton has posted a better-than-league average ERA and FIP. He’s shown a proclivity for generating soft contact in the air from batters, posting better than league averages in HR percentage, HR to fly ball ratio, and percentage of fly balls as infield pop-ups. I’m not an MLB swing guru but that sounds like a lot of batters out in front of a change-up, making contact after the wrists have rolled.
Coming in predominantly between the sixth and eighth innings for an inning or two this season, Cotton is in a good spot. He’s on a team that have decided they aren’t even trying to win, despite being in the league’s fifth-biggest market and recently receiving half a billion dollars of taxpayer money for a new stadium. Cotton is the type of gamble that the Rangers are hoping works out.
Cotton is similarly hoping that his opportunities to pitch in a relatively low-pressure environment bodes well for him. He’s eligible for arbitration at season’s end and is likely in line for a nice raise. Even if he continues to pitch for the Texas team masquerading as an MLB club next season, a good showing will certainly make him marketable as a trade chip for a contending team in need of a mid-inning reliever. That role will also be good for his long-term health as well, as expecting him to step into a rotation for 30 starts next year might be a risky proposition.
Jharel Cotton still has a very long way to go on the road to fulfilling the expectations from the spring of 2018. Yet he’s still relatively young at 29. There’s plenty of time for a second career here. He’s an easy kid to root for, whether you’re a Rangers fan or not.
-Jon Rimmer
