Michael Wacha, St. Louis Cardinals
Free agency is on the horizon for Michael Wacha, and he hasn’t done himself any favors to make that trip any less stressful. The 28-year-old has bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen, but the overall results have been underwhelming to a tune of a 4.98 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 2.02 homers allowed per nine innings, and -0.3 fWAR through 112 frames.
For the second straight year, Wacha’s hard-hit rate allowed is trending above 39.0%. The only difference between 2019 and 2018, though, is that he was able to outperform that certain area of his profile en route to a 3.20 ERA in 84.1 innings. He allowed a .249 BABIP during that time, a number that’s risen up to .306 this season.
The usage of his four-seamer has increased about eight percentage points compared to last year, but the results haven’t been nearly as nice. Opposing hitters have compiled a 153 wRC+, .974 OPS, and .274 ISO against that offering in 2019, which is quite a difference considering last year’s numbers settled in at 120, .781/.137, respectively.
Wacha has shown flashes of being a productive big-league starter throughout the past few years. However, combining his inconsistency with his current struggles will vastly limit his earning power in the open market this winter.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book and created an online class about how to get started as a sports blogger. Check those out and more helpful tips on sports blogging at his website.
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