Dustin McGowan may have finally lived-up to his prospect hype. In a start versus the Devil Rays today, he struck out 6 and walked just one. Could this be the silver lining in a Blue Jays' season that is becoming increasingly bleak?
To get some context, I wanted to check on the team stats of the Devil Rays. I am under the impression that the DRays are an exciting fantasy team but not a very good real life one. As with most impressions, one should check to see if the available information supports them.
Given the two peripherals I noted, I sorted the AL team stats by strikeouts, and, to my dismay(?), the DRays have struck out 286 times versus a league average of 217. That is the worst total in the AL. Given the destigmatization of striking out, I wanted to see if a concurrent increase in walks was present.
On this stat, the DRays fared better. They were 11th with 103 versus a league average of 115. However, this wasn't what I've come to believe are acceptable totals from the contemporary understanding that high strikeouts are the price of high walks i.e the Indians with 263 Ks (2nd worst) and 144 BBs (2nd best). Nor was is compatible with the High Contact School as typified by the Angels (low BBs (93/2nd worst)and low strikeouts (172/2nd best)).
Unfortunately,I find myself becoming less hopeful about Dustan McGowan ability to deliver a silver lining based on his 6K/1BB effort this afternoon against the Devil Rays.