One of the biggest surprises that few have talked about has been the downfall of Kevin Gausman, who was sporting a horrific 6.47 ERA after his June 21st start. Combining that with a 4.35 BB/9 and it was startling to see someone who had not only put up great walk numbers but a consistent sub 4.00 ERA pitcher in previous years fall so hard. Now, after going 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks against the Rays there are signs that we may be getting out of the dark. His last three starts have returned 20 strikeouts with two straight shutout performances and 2 walks per start. Hmmmmmm. So of course, we have to ask what we always ask: Has Gausman made a change that would explain his recent success? And...well...yes. Before his June 21st start, Gausman threw just 14.6% Splitters across the season - terribly low for what is very clearly his best pitch. In the last three starts that number is well above 25% peaking at 30%+ today. There's more to it than just throwing more Splitters as I've expressed the need for Gausman to improve command his Four-Seamer in order to properly set up his Splitter and he sure did that today getting 17 of 25 First-Pitch Strikes. It's great and spells out exactly how he was successful today. But was it a fluke? Well, he did go just 11 of 20 last time out...It's tough. There is something here but it's hard to bet that it's repeatable like it was so often last season. If you need to take a questionable gamble, go ahead. He'll return to The List tomorrow but it won't be a major jump. For now.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
