Blue Jays Starting Rotation Power Rankings

Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Before we get into it, we should acknowledge that Norris doesn’t exactly have the track record for us to making truly meaningful comparisons. But, we can still take a look at his time to date. He started the season off very well for the first few innings in New York. But, since has had an increasing amount of struggles. In 3 starts, Norris is 1-1 through 13.1 innings. That is an average of just over 4 innings per start. While his K/9 rate is fairly good at 6.75, his BB/9 is not (4.73). Like Sanchez, he’s also giving up his share of HR at the rate of 2.03/9 innings. His xFIP sits at a monstrous 5.98. Norris has been hittable to a an average of .275. Combine that with a walk rate of 11.7% and it is easy to see why he has had a rough go since the start of 2015.

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He could benefit from inducing more ground balls as his rate has taken a dip form last year. As well, there has been an increase in his fly ball rate. If you’re not in the strike zone and you’re giving up hits, it would be preferable to  keep the ball on the ground. Batters are making contact nearly 75% of the time against him and when he’s in the zone, hitters are making contact 91.5% of the time.

Part of Norris’ struggles can be explained by his recent admission of a bout of ‘dead arm’. It would be extremely difficult to put up good numbers when you have difficulty getting a feel for the ball and control it. Hopefully, this passes and he can make a rise in these rankings.

Next: Blue Jays Starting Rotation Power Rankings #3