Yesterday Tsuyoshi Wada had his worst start of the season.
Now before you start burning your Wada jerseys (you do own a Wada jersey don’t you?), let’s set that bad start into context.
Over six innings Wada needed just 87 pitches. He allowed three runs (that’s not so bad) on six hits and two walks and only struck out one (ouch). And he allowed two home runs (double ouch) in one of the most pitcher friendly parks in the Pacific Coast League (if you’re prone to panicking, this would be the place to do it).
But, really, once you get past the word “worst,” Wada’s start wasn’t awful. Compared to the rest of his amazingly good campaign it was bad, but set into the context of fairly typical PCL pitching performances it doesn’t really stand out.
In fact, his worst start just goes to highlight how ridiculously good he has been this season. Even after yesterday he still has an ERA of 1.21 over 31.1 innings. Even for a rather veteran ‘prospect’, that’s impressive. If he can put up anything close to those results in Chicago when he is called up, the Cubs are going to be very happy indeed. His ERA could triple in the bigs and it would still be solid.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – It took eleven innings, but the Cubs won 5-4. Tennessee – The Smokies scored all their runs in their final three innings and won 4-1. Daytona – Cubs picked up a run in the seventh, but they needed more. The Cubs lost 5-1. Kane County – Kane County took the early and often approach to scoring in this game, and it led to an 8-2 win.
[Iowa] Josh Vitters has definitely broken out of his slump. He hit 2 more home runs in this game and has now homered in 3 straight games.
[Iowa] Javier Baez, on the other hand, is still slumping. He finished 0 for 4 and struck out twice. He did draw another walk, though, his 5th in the past week or so.
[Tennessee] Kris Bryant left after one at bat, but it turned out to be due to a mild stomach illness. The Smokies radio man says he should be fine and back in the lineup today. Interestingly, today is All-You-Can-Eat Wednesday. There is a probably a joke in there somewhere.
[Tennessee] Stephen Bruno is on a remarkable run. After yesterday’s 3 for 3 performance, Bruno has now doubled in 5 straight games. He was walked twice and struck out twice in that span.
[Tennessee] Rubi Silva, believe it or not, walked twice. He has now drawn a walk in two straight games, and in 5 of his past 8 games. Over those 8 games he has more walks (6) than strikeouts (5). Aberration? Sample size fluke? An amazing infusion of patience? We’ll see as the season progresses.
[Daytona] Albert Almora walked, doubled, and stole his second base of the season.
[Daytona] Starling Peralta pitched 3.1 innings of relief. He allowed 2 hits, a walk, and struck out 6.
[Kane County] Catcher Will Remillard keeps on hitting. He finished this game 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and a walk. In his last 10 games he has 6 (!!!) multi-hit games and just 3 strikeouts. For the season he has as many doubles as he does walks and strikeouts at 8 apiece.
[Kane County] Daury Torrez did not strike out many, but he did not allow many chances either. Over 6 innings he gave up just 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk while striking out a pair. Jose Arias struck out 3 in 2 innings of relief.
Other News
In the Iowa game, the pitching Win went to Zac Rosscup. Rosscup pitched one very good inning, but got the win simply because he happened to be the last guy on the mound before the Cubs took the lead. Â This is a perfect example of why wins as a pitching stat tell us nothing. What is so special about this inning pitched by Rosscup that it gets a W when other, equally effective innings don’t? The fact this inning happened to precede the Cubs taking the lead, an event in which Rosscup played no part. That’s what. This is just another example of why pitching wins are quite possibly the most arbitrary and entirely useless statistic in all of professional sports.
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NEWSLETTER
Yesterday Tsuyoshi Wada had his worst start of the season.
