Giants reliever George Kontos has been designated for assignment, according to Alex Pavlovic of the Merc. Kontos gave up three earned runs in Tuesday’s loss to the Pirates, raising his season ERA to 5.76. The Giants called up fellow right-hander Sandy Rosario to take Kontos’ spot in the bullpen.
Last season, Kontos was a hidden gem in Bruce Bochy’s bullpen. After coming over from the Yankees in the Chris Stewart trade, the right-hander posted a 2.47 ERA across 43.2 innings. This season he has been erratic, giving up three runs in relief on four separate occasions.
The advanced stats show that Kontos may be getting a bit unlucky, with his .329 BABIP almost 45 points above career average. But his ground ball rate of of 26.4% and 24.1% line drive rate is responsible for the jump in BABIP, as line drives are more likely to fall for hits than grounders. His 2012 ground ball and line drive rates were 51.3 and 15.1 respectively, an indication that Kontos had hitters more off-balance last season.
The only thing sexier than George Kontos’ 2012 LD% is George Kontos. Just ask the cleat chasers, who will be in Twitter freak-out mode shortly. Also, it’s his birthday. Wah-wah.
This is Rosario’s third look in a San Francisco Giants uniform, having thrown 2.2 innings across two call-ups this season. He allowed two runs in limited work, but has performed well in the Fresno Grizzlies’ bullpen. Rosario has a 2.78 ERA in 32.1 innigs, with impressive 9.7 K/9 and 3.50 SO/BB ratios. But I agree with FanGraphs’ Wendy Thurm, Rosario is not part of the Giants past, present or future plans but is rather a stopgap to allow their Greek demigod a chance to “straighten out”.