Coming into the season two members of the As youthful rotation were particularly exciting to look at. Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson were both top prospects and linked by a host of similarities, both were just 21 years old to start the season, had not pitched above AA coupled with the rare mixture of good
David Johnson Jersey ground ball and strikeout numbers. Both pitchers struck out over 8 batters per 9 innings and got over 50% ground balls per ball in play at each level in the minors coming into this season. The huge difference is the fact that Anderson combined those skills with excellent walk numbers, while Cahills were poor. That difference as translated towards the bigs. Anderson is having an amazing season. By FIP he is
Ricardo Mathews Jersey the 10th best starter in the AL, an incredible feat for somebody of his age and experience. Dave C. and I have each profiled him already (here and here), and so i will turn attention to Cahills season. His ground ball rate is solid (over 47%), but his walk (3.6 per 9) and strikeout (4.6 per 9) numbers have been bad. In fact his K/BB ratio is second
Terence Garvin Jersey worst (again to John Lannan) among qualifying starters. Here may be the movement on his pitches. Like many ground ball pitchers Cahill throws a lot of fastballs (almost 70% of times), and also the i sue is he's not been very good at
Braylon Heard Jersey providing them with in the zone. His fastballs have been in the permi sive pfx zone 50% of the time, when compared to 55% for that average fastball. This is one of those things that seems just like a small difference but is not. The variation is fastball zone percentage is narrow, so 50% is quite low, and also over the path of the entire year those extra balls really pile up. Cahill has got the stuff. His two-seam fastball induces plenty of ground balls (55%) while getting a nearly average whiff rate (13%) and the good changeup gives him a good option against
Jack Lambert Jersey lefties. Although it has been a rough year he is very young and with improvement in his command he'll be a good pitcher.
