TCB Pitcher of the Week: Week of September 1-7, 2015

Honorable Mention

Dallas Keuchel

In a start unbecoming of him, Dallas Keuchel allowed three runs (all solo shots), walked two, and struck out twelve batters (one off of his season high) in a victory against the Twins that had Minute Maid Park rocking and long balls flying out of the park all day. Interestingly, this was the first start in which he pitched eight innings since his start against Kansas City on the final day of June. His dominance at Minute Maid continued and he now has an ERA of 1.49 and a K/9 of 9.7 at home. It gets harder to give out new information as he goes out and sends down the competition week after week, but he is second in the MLB in GB%, fourth in ERA and SIERA, third in xFIP, fourth in fWAR, third in ERA- and xFIP-, and first in Hard%. Dallas Keuchel is my Cy Young, and he should be yours as well.

Lance McCullers, Jr.

McCullers had his best start in his three games since his return from his sabbatical in Corpus Christi. He allowed only three hits, which was his best since his five-inning no-hitter in June, walked two, and struck out eight in what turned out to be a loss for the Astros (thanks, Gregerson). Like Dallas Keuchel, he enjoys the confines of Minute Maid Park, but his splits are even more extreme: he has a 1.61 ERA with a 2.7 BB/9 at home and a 5.09 ERA with a 4.0 BB/9 on the road. His xFIP does have only a difference of 0.17 between the two (3.38 and 3.55) which is probably due to a .252 BABIP at home and a .351 BABIP on the road. He is leading all rookies in fWAR at 2.6 (honestly, that surprised me), which, considering he hasn't even pitched 100 innings, is quite impressive.

Winner

Collin McHugh

McHugh continued his resurgence with his first scoreless start of the season, in which he pitched 7.2 innings, scattered seven hits, walked one, and struck out six. His ERA is now 3.75 after briefly breaking 5.00 after his disastrous start against the Mariners on June 13.Since June 23, he has a 2.58 ERA, and if one five-run clunker against the Angels is excluded, that's a 2.19 ERA. In August and September, that's just a 1.54 ERA. McHugh is now pitching like the same pitcher he was last year (minus some of the strikeout ability). His slider might be a pitch to consider fixing: After he induced a 2.06 BAA with it in 2014, he now has a .317 BAA with it in 2015, and it has fallen from a 12.5% SwStr% to an 8.3 SwStr%. In any case, McHugh is ready to help lock down opposing teams in the playoffs as perhaps the team's fourth-best starter (and a damn good one at that).