Three Up, Three Down: Keuchel Returns to Cy Young Form
Dallas Keuchel (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Each week, BA will take a look at the trends in major league baseball.
THREE 👍
Dallas Keuchel | lhp | Astros: The Astros have baseball’s best record and the lowest ERA in the American League. Their ace is a prime reason why. After an off-year in 2016, Keuchel has returned to his Cy Young Award-winning form. Keuchel is 8-0, 1.81 and been one of the hardest pitchers to square up. He is allowing just 5.8 hits per nine innings and limiting opponents to a .187/.240/.282 slash line. Keuchel’s sinker has been the most unhittable of all. He is throwing it nearly 44 percent of the time, per Brooks Baseball, and opponents are hitting .180 with a .279 slugging percentage against it.
Charlie Blackmon | of | Rockies: Long a solid player, Blackmon has taken his game to a new level this season. The 30-year-old Georgia Tech product leads the majors in hits (45), triples (7), total bases (131) and, amazingly, RBIs (45) hitting out of the leadoff spot. Already an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award recipient, Blackmon has thrust himself in MVP consideration with his fabulous start for the Nationals League’s best team.
The Dodgers offseason: The Dodgers prioritized signing their own free agents this offseason above all else, and it is proving to be a wise decision. Justin Turner led the majors with a .379 batting average before going on the disabled list with a hamstring strain. Kenley Jansen has an astonishing 34 strikeouts and zero walks in 19 innings while going 8-for-8 in save opportunities. Rich Hill has struggled again with blister issues but tossed 5 innings of one-run ball on Sunday to lower his ERA to 4.09. Overall the Dodgers are 32-20, just a half-game behind the Rockies, in part due to their key returners.
THREE 👎
Jordan Zimmermann | rhp | Tigers: The Tigers signed Zimmermann to a 5-year, $110 million contract before the 2016 season, but it has not been a beneficial arrangement to this point. Zimmerman scuffled to a 4.87 ERA last year and has been one of the worst starters in baseball this year. The 31-year-old entered Tuesday with a 6.47 ERA, fourth-highest in the majors among qualified starters. He has the lowest strikeout rate of his career (5.5/9) and is allowing the most hits (11.3/9) and home runs (2.6/9) of his career by a large margin.
Curtis Granderson | of | Mets: Granderson’s years-long decline has reached rock bottom in 2017. The 36-year-old outfielder’s .187 batting average and .615 OPS are both among the 10 worst in baseball. Granderson’s 22.1 percent strikeout rate isn’t far off his career mark, but his 8.8 percent walk rate is down from his nearly 10.8 percent career mark and he simply is not hitting the ball with the same impact as his younger years. Per Fangraphs, Granderson’s 22.6 percent soft-hit percentage is 12th-worst among qualified outfielders this season
The Marlins’ offseason: The usually stingy Marlins spent upwards of $57 million on free agents this offseason, but it was not money well-spent. Edinson Volquez (two years, $22 million) has a 1.58 WHIP, 10th-worst in baseball, and a 4.44 ERA. Brad Ziegler (two years, $16 million) has a 6.75 ERA. Junichi Tazawa (two years, $12 million) had a 6.60 ERA before going on the DL with a rib injury. Jeff Locke (1 year, $3.025 million) has yet to pitch and A.J. Ellis (1 year, $2.5 million) is hitting .135. With an offseason free agent class increasingly appearing wasted, the Marlins are 18-30, the second-worst record in baseball.
Comments are closed.