I'm on very limited time today, but it works out because there isn't too much to read into Steve Kline. He's a left-handed reliever, and, uh, you know, he'll do all the little things to help a ballclub win. He'll, uh, be brought in to face lefties, and perhaps give 110%.Or something. And we're all looking forward to it. Turning Jerome Williams into Steve Kline bothers me more than getting rid of Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan for a decent catcher.
Steve Kline
G: 78
IP: 58
ERA: 3.45
K: 39
BB: 28
It's tough for a true lefty specialist to have a high ERA, because he isn't really going to be around to allow a whole mess of baserunners. He's not going to be given many chances to allow three straight hits or walks, so it would take a combination of Kline suckitude and repeated awful performances from the guy brought in after Kline to inflate the ERA much past 4.00. Kline has only had one year with an ERA above league average (2005), but it might be a bit hard to gauge his effectiveness with the typical stats. His Baseball Prospectus card doesn't look too much different, though.
Trivia: I always thought Kline was Australian until he joined the Giants.
More trivia: Kline is a switch-hitter.
Statement of fact: I hope I never have to see him hit.