Former funky Angels reliever finds a new home with the Colorado Rockies

Former Angels standout reliever, Jimmy Herget, has a new home. Herget, who has been on three teams in the last three months, is continuing his tour around the major leagues. After getting waived by the Chicago Cubs, Herget was claimed by the Colorado Rockies and added to their 40-man roster.

After being drafted and debuting with the Cincinnati Reds, Herget went on to pitch for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs. Herget only pitched 12.1 innings for the Braves last year before being DFA'd in September. He was picked up by the Cubs, but was with the organization for less than a couple months.

Jimmy Herget, one of the most unique pitchers ever, claimed by the Colorado Rockies

Herget has truly earned his nickname, "The Human Glitch." The 31-year-old varies his arm slots some, but mostly utilizes the side-winding release point (he is almost perfectly 90° on average) from an incredibly short extension (his 5.1ft extension was in a league of his own). He is as pure of an East-West pitcher as there is in the game. His "depthiest" pitch last season was his sinker. That is already unheard of in the history of the sport. Oh, and his most used pitch last season was his curveball. Yes, his sinker has more depth than his curveball.

Watching Herget operate is truly mind-bending. His four-seam grades out like a two-seam, his two-seam grades out like a sinker, his curveball grades out like a sweeper, and his slider grades out like a cutter (and sometimes, his slider does not even slide or cut). His only "normal" pitch, in terms of Trackman metrics, is his changeup. His changeup is a changeup. Herget's average fastball velocity is 91.5mph, which ranks in the 15th percentile of MLB pitchers, so clearly his junk-balling from an obscure arm angle is what makes him most effective. Here's hoping that -- if Herget makes it back to the big leagues -- the Denver altitude does not diminish his pitches' depth and horizontal movement to the point where he loses his effectiveness altogether.

After he elected free agency following a designation for assignment by the Texas Rangers, the Angels signed Herget on August 16th, 2021. He made his debut for the Angels a couple weeks later. 2022 was far and away Herget's best year of his career. After being a pure middle reliever in 2021, Herget was used as a multi-innings reliever and a back-end guy. He actually collected 9 saves in 2022, and seriously competed with Estévez for the closer role heading into 2023.

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