Brad Keller, Kansas City Royals
May Stats: 1-3 record, 13.3% strikeout rate, 14.1% walk rate, 5.28 ERA, 6.01 SIERA, and 0.4 fWAR in 29 innings
Keller is also on this list for the second month in a row. His March/April ERA wasn’t too bad (4.07), but his peripherals signaled negative regression was coming. Judging by how this past month went, it arrived in full force.
As a hurler that doesn’t own a blistering fastball (92.7 mph average velocity in ’19), it’s important for his control to always be on point. That hasn’t been the case, as his season-long walk rate (13.3%) is nearly as high as his strikeout rate (15.2%). It doesn’t help that both his first-pitch strike rate (59.0% to 55.6%) and zone rate (40.8% to 37.2%) have gotten worse.
Those numbers help explain why opposing hitters are chasing just 27.2% of Keller’s pitches outside the strike zone.
He was predominantly a fastball-slider hurler during last year’s rookie campaign but has veered toward that even more heavily in 2019. His fastball usage has gone down about seven percentage points, while his slider usage has gone from 26.2% to 34.8%. Hitters have produced just a 42 wRC+ against that pitch. That’s paired with a 149 wRC+ against four-seamers and a 143 wRC+ against sinkers, though.
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