Six MLB pitchers who must build off a strong second half

Zack Wheeler, New York Mets

The 2018 regular season began in Triple-A for Zack Wheeler. He didn’t stay there for long, and an incredibly strong finish has him back among the Mets’ core of talented starting pitchers.

Saying Wheeler just had a strong second half isn’t doing him justice, though. His first 50 innings (all prior to June 1st) resulted in a 5.40 ERA, but his 4.04 SIERA and 3.93 xFIP told us he was a little unlucky. The righty’s final 132.1 innings were mostly terrific, as he produced a 2.52 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate (nice).

What jumped out the most about Wheeler’s performance was his ability to control the quality of contact from opposing hitters, posting career-best marks in soft-hit rate (23.4%) and hard-hit rate (24.8%). Among starters qualified for the ERA title, that soft-hit rate allowed was third-best in baseball, while the hard-hit rate allowed was the best.