Article on Derek Lowe...turns 39 in a few weeks and solid stats so far while going 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA for Indians. Even stronger at home. Still, correction forthcoming IMO as his .289 BAA and just 13 K's w/17 BB in 52 IP attest. Last game, he benefited from a very favorable 'under' umpire at Minnesota.
He's throwing sinker over 80% of the time and has highest groundball rate (65%) among MLB starters this season.
High batting average does not bother me on ground ball pitchers. They tend to make it up on double plays and it usually takes 3 hits to score a run. Just my oppinion
Looks like Marlins were a popular play yesterday and they take home the cash (though we almost had a pen meltdown).
I believe we had another thread a few weeks ago talking about D-Lowe and regression period. The one thing I stated was how I try to refrain from fading a sinkerballer while he's in good rhythm. Lowe has been in great rhythm basically all season.
I did bet the Marlins yesterday more so on a buy sign with Josh Johnson, a buy sign on Marlins as one of hottest teams in baseball, a sell on Indians and their "luck factor" and a sell on Lowe's extremely high pitch count in his last start.
here a some thoughts from Jeff Passan in a column discussing which hot starts will continue and which will likely fade:
"No matter how good a pitcher's sinker, he cannot survive striking out 2.22 batters per nine innings. The last pitcher to qualify for the ERA title with a K rate that low was Nate Cornejo from the legendary 2003 Detroit Tigers. He went 6-17 with a 4.67 ERA and started 32 games only because the 43-119 Tigers were so awful. Only two more who qualified for the ERA title have struck out so few in the last 50 years.
Pitchers used to be able to get away without striking anyone out. Not today. Lowe's AL-leading 2.05 ERA could well double even if he continues to induce ground balls at a major league-best 65.4 percent. His sinker isn't moving any more than in recent years, according to PITCHf/x readings, which makes this even more of a sample-size hiccup. The Braves ate much of Lowe's salary because they figured he was done, and that …"
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