On Monday we revisited this year’s promising rookie batters to see how they rate against each other. Today we’re going to look at the pitchers, updating our previous examination, once again keeping in mind the Generals’ preseason picks for ROY.
This roundup could be called the Rookies Regression Roundup, as most of our young pitchers have seen their ERAs, WHIPs, and BABIPs climb after posting some beautifully low numbers in the first month.
| Player | IP | W-L | ERA | WHIP | K | K/9 | BB/9 | BABIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jair Jurrjens | 70.1 | 5-3 | 3.45 | 1.38 | 51 | 6.53 | 3.84 | .300 |
| Johnny Cueto | 68.2 | 4-5 | 5.11 | 1.30 | 62 | 8.13 | 2.62 | .295 |
| John Lannan | 64 | 4-5 | 3.52 | 1.39 | 43 | 6.05 | 3.09 | .311 |
| Nick Blackburn | 76 | 4-3 | 3.32 | 1.38 | 41 | 4.86 | 1.66 | .332 |
| Hiroki Kuroda | 71 | 2-5 | 3.93 | 1.38 | 37 | 4.69 | 2.92 | .294 |
| Joba Chamberlain | 26 | 1-2 | 2.42 | 1.23 | 33 | 11.42 | 5.19 | .284 |
| Max Scherzer | 26.2 | 0-2 | 3.04 | 1.24 | 30 | 10.13 | 3.71 | .307 |
| Manny Parra | 55.1 | 3-2 | 4.72 | 1.41 | 45 | 7.32 | 4.88 | .339 |
| Luke Hochevar | 47 | 3-5 | 4.98 | 1.57 | 33 | 6.32 | 5.17 | .302 |
| Clay Buchholz | 42.1 | 2-3 | 5.53 | 1.63 | 43 | 9.14 | 4.25 | .376 |
| Ian Kennedy | 37.2 | 0-3 | 7.41 | 1.75 | 26 | 6.21 | 5.97 | .310 |
| Franklin Morales | 25.1 | 1-2 | 6.39 | 1.78 | 9 | 3.20 | 6.04 | .294 |
| Nick Adenhart | 12 | 1-0 | 9.00 | 2.58 | 4 | 3.00 | 9.75 | .376 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 9.2 | 0-0 | 5.59 | 1.55 | 9 | 8.38 | 4.66 | .330 |
Still, some of them are pitching very well, as Jair Jurrjens leads the pack with a 5-3 record and 3.45 ERA, along with 51 strikeouts, second only to Johnny Cueto.
Cueto is still striking out batters at a blazing rate (and walking them at a small one), but continues to suffer spooky ERA woes, despite an xFIP from The Hardball Times of 3.99. Meanwhile, John Lannan is holding his own with the Nationals, and Nick Blackburn is taking full advantage of his excellent control to counteract the .332 BABIP he’s facing.
Joba Chamberlain and Max Scherzer, despite their similar WHIPs and K rates are on different role paths, as Chamberlain has made the move from set-up man to starter, and Scherzer has been returned to the bullpen after a few starts of his own. Scherzer’s ERA only recently jumped to 3.04, as he gave up his first two home runs of the season last night. For what it’s worth, THT has his xFIP at 3.40.
Manny Parra continues to struggle through the season, though injuries to Yovani Gallardo have kept him in the Brewers rotation, where everyone hopes he’ll be able to work down the 5.17 BB/9 and wait out a regression from the .339 BABIP. Keeping pace with him is Royals starter Luke Hochevar, who, despite his poor record, doesn’t seem to be suffering from any bad luck BABIP or inflation from his 4.67 xFIP.
Clay Buchholz was recently activated from the DL and sent back to the minors, to join Ian Kennedy in the AAA ranks. Each of them struggled mightily in the majors this year, and with Bartolo Colon (in Buchholz’s case) and Joba Chamberlain (Kennedy’s) taking their places in the starting rotation, these pitchers might not return to the majors for a while.
Franklin Morales and Nick Adenhart are both also back in the minors, having shown in the majors only that they probably aren’t ready yet. Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, has hit a couple bumps early on but will be interesting to check back with when we do next month’s rookie roundup.
That’s all for this time. Anyone you think I missed?
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