Sean Newcomb, SP, Atlanta Braves
The slow start
Similar to Gausman, Sean Newcomb’s month of April wasn’t necessarily bad, but it was definitely in the “meh” category. He was the owner of a 4.23 ERA and .321 wOBA allowed through 27.2 innings of work.
Although there was a huge spike in strikeouts (28.1%), his 12.9% walk rate still posed a problem since his strand rate stood at just 62.0%.
The recovery
Newcomb’s 1.1 total fWAR in just 52.2 innings has nearly surpassed what he produced in twice the playing time as a rookie last year (1.3 fWAR). He can thank a red-hot month of May that includes a minuscule 0.36 ERA and .173 wOBA allowed in 25 innings.
The southpaw’s walk rate has decreased slightly (10.4%), but his BABIP (.311 to .226) and strand rate (62.0% to 87.4%) have improved greatly. He’s been able to accomplish this despite a decreasing soft-hit rate (24.7% to 20.3%) and increasing hard-hit rate (28.8% to 30.5%).
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