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.