Chasing The Storm 2053-2 Pitching Update

[njherdfan]

As we mentioned earlier, as Seattle's season passes the halfway point, Seattle's pitching staff has continued to struggle, in ways that have vexed Seattle's coaches and fans. Seattle has devoted an incredible amount of resources to building its pitching staff, as most of its draft picks have been spent on pitchers who were meant to helm the rotation in the future. Today we're going to look at two members of the rotation who were penciled in as long term starters, and we'll examine how they've been performing.

For Doug Eckhoff, last year was a disaster, as he had a 5.88 ERA and a 4.78 FIP. This year, things have been better, as, with 1/3 of the season still to go, Eckhoff has an ERA of 4.05 and a FIP of 4.31. Eckhoff's major progress seems to have come in the form of limiting walks, as his strikeout rate and home run rate are quite similar to what they were last season. Of course, limiting walks is very important, so Seattle is pleased to see that he's been able to throw strikes more effectively. It remains to be seen whether, and to what extent, Eckhoff will be able to start striking out more hitters, which might be necessary for him to become an elite starter.

For Lucio Suarez, last season was almost entirely a positive experience, as all of the pitching metrics seemed to indicate that he was on the verge of taking a huge leap, as he had a FIP of 3.66 and an ERA of 3.61. This year, Juarez's performance has gone almost completely in the opposite direction, as he's given up more walks and more home runs, and he's struck out fewer hitters. Needless to say, that's not a recipe for success, and Juarez currently has an ERA of 5.20 and a FIP of 4.68. Seattle's front office has been projecting an aura of calm; they say that there haven't been any sort of changes that indicate that this is anything other than a blip in the radar. To put it mildly, Seattle's fans desperately hope that this is true, because if Juarez also regresses, it's not a good sign for the future of Seattle's rotation.

[BaseClogger]

Eckhoff looks like a good young pitcher. That 1 changeup really hinders his ability to get LH batters out, so that's always going to be his struggle. He'll need to dominate righties.

Juarez has good ratings but a miserable repertoire of pitches. Guys like this almost feel like a trap.

[njherdfan]

Eckhoff looks like a good young pitcher. That 1 changeup really hinders his ability to get LH batters out, so that's always going to be his struggle. He'll need to dominate righties.

Juarez has good ratings but a miserable repertoire of pitches. Guys like this almost feel like a trap.

I definitely take your point about Juarez. I think the additional frustration for me is that he was pretty good last year.