RADIO
Zach Davies Fills Out Your Rotation
7 years agoThere was plenty of hype around Zach Davies entering the 2017 season from his surprisingly successful 2016. Davies threw 191 innings last year with a 3.90 earned run average. Davies’ success is dependent upon his control of his four pitches; he had a great BB/9 rate of 2.59. Davies is not one to overwhelm batters, as his average fastball velocity last season was just 89.7mph. Also, Davies’ swinging strike rate was only 7.2% and his K/9 dropped to a more expected rate of 5.83. In a hitter friendly ballpark, it was great to see Davies increase his ground-ball rate to an impressive 50.2%, which ranked 16th among all pitchers with at least 150 innings. He also limited the percentage of times he was hit hard, with a hard hit rate of 28.8%, ranked 17th among the same group of pitchers. If Davies can keep the ball in the park, and hopefully on the ground, he has a chance to get plenty of wins, considering the improved Brewers lineup, both offensively and defensively. Davies will be drafted in the last couple rounds of your draft. Davies will fill out your rotation and provide innings, but will not be the star of your pitching staff.
