Earlier today, the Chicago Cubs sent left-handed reliever Scott Eyre to Philadelphia for A-ball pitcher Brian Schlitter. A quick look at Eyre’s 2008 season (7.15 ERA in only 11 and one-third innings) tells you that the Phillies may be handling a live grenade at the cost of a Minor Leaguer with good stats: Schlitter averages over 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings and has a WHIP of just 1.26 along with his 2.31 ERA.

However, a deeper look at Eyre’s statistics will show you that Phillies GM Pat Gillick may not, in fact, be handling a live grenade. Between May 10 and June 13, Eyre appeared in 14 games and did not allow a single run. It was only in four of his last five appearances that he struggled. He allowed a total of nine earned runs in two and one-third innings, then hit the disabled list on June 28 and did not return until July 23.

Eyre’s recent shortcomings may be blamed partially on Cubs manager Lou Piniella for incorrect usage. Right-handed hitters have a 1.059 OPS against Eyre, but left-handers have just an .804 OPS. Between June 15 and July 31, Eyre faced 11 right-handers and got three of them out, but two were sacrifice flies. He also allowed five singles, a triple, a walk, and hit a batter. Furthermore, of the five runs he allowed in his two appearances on June 26 and July 31, four were runners inherited by a reliever after Eyre who allowed them to score.

As mentioned, Eyre came off of the disabled list on July 23, but Piniella only used him once between then and August 5, when the Cubs placed him on waivers. It’s hard to be sharp when you’ve just recovered from an injury and are only used once in almost two weeks.

Before we get into Sabermetrics, note that we are dealing with a very small sample size: Eyre has pitched just 11 and one-third innings this season.

Take a look at Eyre’s BABIP for 2008 and try to keep your eyeballs glued to your face. It’s .438. Point four-three-eight. Small sample size, but it does explain a bit of his woes — after all, he did give up only one extra-base hit to right-handers in his last two months of pitching. With a 26.5 LD%, we would expect a BABIP of about .385, which is still very high but still well below his current BABIP.

His current ERA (7.15) is more than twice his FIP (3.07) as well. Another good sign is that, even including his poor appearances, his strikeout rate is higher and his walk rate is lower than last season when he put up a 4.13 ERA in just over 52 innings for the Cubs.

The Phillies, most likely, will use Eyre strictly as a LOOGY. This is exactly how he should be used and exactly how Lou Piniella did not use him. He’ll pitch regularly to left-handed batters between the 6th and 8th innings and won’t be underused and due to his role of pitching to only one or two left-handers, he won’t be overused either. Considering that he had elbow problems in May and a groin problem in June, it’s works out great for both sides.

It’s a great trade for the Phillies. While Eyre is no Brian Fuentes, they get the left-handed specialist they’ve been after, and for a very cheap price — just a dime-a-dozen Minor League pitcher and just over $1 million left on Eyre’s contract. While you shouldn’t expect Eyre to be flawless the rest of the way, you certainly shouldn’t expect him to be anywhere near as bad as his surface statistics show.