With all question marks surrounding Michael Pineda in March as we tried to decipher what kind of pitcher he would be, he sure has been fantastic and continued the narrative tonight with a line of 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks against the Royals. In the preseason, the analysis was universal: his peripherals look great, but we can't trust that he'll be able to avoid the longball and his Fastball gets crushed way too often, as he's hittable inside the zone. What's crazy here is that Pineda still has a Home Run problem - 23.4% HR/FB on the year! - but he's carrying a 3.35 ERA regardless as everything else has been so good. He's showcasing a 10.23 K/9, 1.51 BB/9, and 27.8% hard contact entering Monday night's matchup. Now, the big change here is a BABIP that was above .330 for two straight years that has fallen to just .269, while his LOB rate is at 82.2% (compared to hovering around 70% in 2015/16). I don't expect him to keep those numbers down, which means that ERA would rise closer to his 4.09 FIP, but if the HR/FB rate drops as well a 3.50 ERA is possible. I'd certainly take that from Pineda with his K/BB numbers and I'd value him as such moving forward.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
