Amidst the fun of the Phantoms' current season - and so many players excelling around him - Ludwig Charles is happy - on the outside. He's happy for his teammates and his team. He enjoys their success and congratulates them profusely. But inside, he can't help but be morose... to feel like he is letting them down. To date, the 24 year old Southpaw has a 2-6 record, 5.43 ERA and 27.3% QS rate. He's been bad - objectively so. But, still... he can't shake the feeling like if he just keeps at it things will turn around eventually.
And for good reason. Of the 4 starters on the team, only Peithner has a lower BB/9 (1.89 v. 2.52) and only Nicto has a better HR/9 (.55 vs. .63). His K/9 lags considerably behind the other 4 (nearly 2 full points behind 3rd place Nicto - 6.37 vs. 4.42), but management has gone on record saying they don't care terribly much about that and seem intent to stick to their theoretical guns. All told, Charles' FIP of 4.18 isn't *good* (it's a sub-100 FIP- on the year at 95), but considering his role (4th starter) and team (one that plays in a pretty extreme batter's park) we would be more than content with that if it translated into on-field production. But, alas... that is the rub.
In Charles' last 10 starts, we are 3-7. 4 games below .500. Contrast that with 7-3 for Nicto and 7-3 for Peithner (for some reason we are 4-6 with Tong despite him being fantastic). At a certain point, Charles needs to figure out how to put theoretical performance into practice or else we'll have a tough time justifying his spot in the rotation as the trade deadline looms. We have confidence in that, but as the season drags on, our patience is straining.
35.26. A Young Pitcher Struggles
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Re: 35.26. A Young Pitcher Struggles
Of course, Charles is only getting three runs a game from his bats, whereas the others are getting 3.3, 3.9, 4.1, and 4.3.
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