Blue Jays Starting Rotation Power Rankings

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next

Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Drew Hutchison has made 3 starts, including the Opening Day match up at Yankee Stadium. Since then, he hasn’t really lived up to that honor. He’s 1-0 (the win coming in that first game of the season) through 15 innings. He’s managing just 5 innings per start. While his K/9 is great at 8.4, he’s had some issues with giving up the walks. Now, a BB/9 rate of 3.6 is not as bad as some of the Blue Jays starters, it is not good. His xFIP sits at 4.28. And, in those 15 innings, he’s given up 12 earned runs including 3 round trippers. 

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

Control has been an issue for Hutch. He’s hit 2 batters and uncorked 2 wild pitches to go along with his 6 walks. Now, Hutchison is doing a good job of starting at bats with a first pitch strike rate of 62%, but he’s having trouble with the rest of the at bat. Batters are hitting .270 against him with a .304 BABIP. Interestingly enough, there has been a decrease in fly ball rates, but an increase in ground balls. But, the HR/ fly ball rate has jumped dramatically this season. When they hit him in the air, it isn’t pretty.

In the early goings, Hutch is relying more on his off speed stuff more than he did last year. His fastball usage has decreased with this change. This may not be a bad thing since right now, the only pitch that has been providing a positive value in the run saving department is his change up (5.5 runs/ 100 pitches).

Drew Hutchison seems to be hitting a wall when he approaches the 5th inning. Sometimes, he doesn’t even last until then as we saw on Friday against the Braves. He’s going to need to pick things up as the season progresses. Yes, it is early, but the Blue Jays need him if they are going to contend.

Next: Blue Jays Starting Rotation Power Rankings #2