PT TOMORROW: NL Central- Could shaky skills put closers' jobs at risk?
May 27 2016
Mark Melancon (RHP, PIT) continues to get the job done, as he's already tallied 16 saves, and has a 2.21 ERA for the season. However, there's some cause for concern in his skills. Like last year, his velocity and strikeouts have been down in the early going, but this time, he's getting fewer swings and misses, and the ground ball specialist is inducing ground balls only 39 percent of the time.
Melancon righted the ship skill-wise in 2015, and there's a good chance he will again this year as well. But if his BPIs don't improve, his 4.22 xERA hints that there could be some struggles ahead. Manager Clint Hurdle has a couple other solid options at the back of the pen who are already providing valuable ratios, and are...
Almost!
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