Daily Dose: Wacha, Wacha

Daily Dose: Wacha, Wacha

Michael Wacha

The Cardinals needed someone to step up following Adam Wainwright’s Achilles injury. Michael Wacha has rung the bell, becoming the National League’s first seven-win starter of the year on Sunday after allowing one unearned run on five hits in seven innings against the AL-leading Royals. Wacha has clearly become the Cardinals’ de facto ace, with a 1.87 ERA and the team winning all nine of his starts this season.

It’s been a nice ride for Wacha owners to this point, with the youngster bouncing back to complete health after a rollercoaster 2014 season. Still, there’s reason to be nervous about his ability to maintain his ace-like performance.

While Wacha’s velocity looks strong, averaging better than 93 mph on his fastball, he’s having trouble missing bats at his previous rate. Wacha has a mediocre 5.5 K/9 and K/BB ratio of only 2.50 as a result. Prior to 2015, Wacha had a career 8.3 K/9 in 171.2 innings. The discrepancy in strikeouts isn’t something that a couple great starts can’t fix, but it’s notable that his great results have held some luck with a sub-.240 BABIP.

Baseball trade deadline primer: 10 teams, players to watch

Baseball trade deadline primer: 10 teams, players to watch

Keep an eye on these 10 players and teams before the July 31 baseball trade deadline:

Philadelphia Phillies: They are that poker player wearing the dark shades, devious grin and a blank face. In or out? The Phillies, with a $175 million payroll, five consecutive division titles and three-year sellout streak, aren’t saying whether they will try to make a run at the playoffs or start selling off players.

At 13 games out in the NL East and 9.5 games behind the wild card after Tuesday’s games, the challenge is sizable. But with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay healthy and supposed to be in the same lineup for the first time this season Tuesday, it’s easy to see why they may give this group a chance.