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So yeah, what to make of this guy?
2012 majors: 9-10, 3.74 ERA, 127.2 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 135 Ks ... 9.52 K/9, 2.54 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9, 3.09 FIP, 3.47 xFIP
He allowed a 28.2% line drive rate (yikes!) but a respectable .319 BABIP. How does that happen? I don't know, but it won't happen again. Either the LD% goes down or the BABIP goes up. His GB% was only 32.7% and his FB% was 39.2%.
Fiers also threw 55 IP at AAA (8.0 K/9, 2.95 BB/9, 0.98 HR/9). How often does a guy improve all three rate stats when moving from the minors to the majors? xFIP says it wasn't a fluke, but the AAA numbers say it might be.
He threw about 130 IP in 2011 and about 180 last year, so there's a small concern about workload, but he's 27 years old so I'm not really worried.
MLB Depth Charts has Fiers as the #3 starter behind YoGa and Marco Estrada (jeez, what happened to the Brewers?) so he could probably get 190 IP unless he gets hurt or gets knocked out of the rotation.
Oh, I forgot to mention the elephant in the room. He's right-handed and his average FB velocity was 88.1 last year. He threw 54% fastballs, 14% cutters (85mph), 21% curveballs (72mph) and 10% changeups (82mph). I don't love the FB/CH/CT velocity splits - they're not big enough.
Fiers is a guy that scares me a little. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I see 160ip, 130 Ks, 1.40 WHIP, 4.40 ERA.
2012 majors: 9-10, 3.74 ERA, 127.2 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 135 Ks ... 9.52 K/9, 2.54 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9, 3.09 FIP, 3.47 xFIP
He allowed a 28.2% line drive rate (yikes!) but a respectable .319 BABIP. How does that happen? I don't know, but it won't happen again. Either the LD% goes down or the BABIP goes up. His GB% was only 32.7% and his FB% was 39.2%.
Fiers also threw 55 IP at AAA (8.0 K/9, 2.95 BB/9, 0.98 HR/9). How often does a guy improve all three rate stats when moving from the minors to the majors? xFIP says it wasn't a fluke, but the AAA numbers say it might be.
He threw about 130 IP in 2011 and about 180 last year, so there's a small concern about workload, but he's 27 years old so I'm not really worried.
MLB Depth Charts has Fiers as the #3 starter behind YoGa and Marco Estrada (jeez, what happened to the Brewers?) so he could probably get 190 IP unless he gets hurt or gets knocked out of the rotation.
Oh, I forgot to mention the elephant in the room. He's right-handed and his average FB velocity was 88.1 last year. He threw 54% fastballs, 14% cutters (85mph), 21% curveballs (72mph) and 10% changeups (82mph). I don't love the FB/CH/CT velocity splits - they're not big enough.
Fiers is a guy that scares me a little. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I see 160ip, 130 Ks, 1.40 WHIP, 4.40 ERA.
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