Nats Add Lefty Reliever, Send Max Schrock To A's

THE DEAL

The trade of Felipe Rivero and a neck problem for Oliver Perez left the Nationals in need of lefthanded relief, so on Wednesday they completed a deal with the Athletics, sending second baseman Max Schrock to Oakland for veteran Marc Rzepczynski.

ATHLETICS ACQUIRE
Max Schrock, 2b
Age: 21

A 13th-round pick from South Carolina in 2015, the 5-foot-8 lefthanded hitter plays to his strength, which is his bat. At two levels, he’s slashing .333/.378/.456. Schrock is a line-drive hitter with occasional pop and he does a good job of getting the barrel to the ball. He has a simple approach at the plate and has handled lefty pitchers well. At second base, Schrock is a work in progress. He has average range at best with an average arm, although he handles the double-play pivot well.

Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
Hagerstown (SAL)	LoA	.326	67	270	46	88	20	2	4	39	22	20	15	.381	.459
Potomac (CAR)	HiA	.341	54	232	30	79	11	0	5	29	9	22	7	.373	.453

NATIONALS ACQUIRE
Marc Rzepczynski, lhp
Age: 30

In his career, Rzepczynski he has held lefthanders to a .225 average but this year, lefties are hitting .296 against him, while righthanded hitters are batting .226. To put that in context, however, lefthanded are hitting .404 on balls in play, which indicates there was some bad luck involved and some regression likely.