Grading the Starting Rotation Performance in April

Andrew Cashner

Andrew Cashner entered the season as one of the teams biggest wildcards. The righty had the worst season of his career in 2016, but the Rangers hoped he could return to his 2014 where he finished the season with a 2.55 ERA.

So far, Cashner has impressed. His 2.93 April ERA was the second lowest on the team, trailing Nick Martinez who only made two starts.

Much like Hamels however, Cashner’s early season success seems to be unsustainable. His 6.20 FIP was the 11th highest FIP among starters. All ten pitchers above him have ERA’s over four, only two have ERA’s under five. In fact, every starter in the top 20 has an ERA over four.

Cashner’s 19.4 walk percentage was the second highest in all of baseball and his -7.4 strikeouts per walk were the lowest by almost three strikeouts.

If he wants to continue his impressive (albeit a tad lucky) performance, Cashner is going to have to cut back on the walks.

His first start of May was a step in the right direction, walking three batters in six innings. His lowest total of the season.