A few things to note about Bartolo's results this year:
Swinging strike % is 4.9%, a career low. Two years ago it was 6.4%.
When batters swing at a pitch in the strike zone, they are making contact 93.2% of the time, a career high. Two years ago it was 89.7%.
When swinging at a pitch outside the strike zone, they are making contact 82.1% of the time, also a career high. Two years ago it was 80.6%.
Batters are swinging at a smaller percentage of his pitches inside and outside the strike zone. This greater selectivity, along with his diminished stuff, has allowed them to improve their contact rates.
A high BABIP (.360) has figured in. So he's had some bad luck. But the factors behind the poor results go well beyond that.
Last edited by nsacpi; 06-29-2017 at 08:32 AM.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
It seems to me if they did want to give him one last chance, it should have come after a rehab start. He hasn't pitched in a game in three weeks. How meaningful is it to evaluate a pitcher under those circumstances. They could have given him a rehab start and pitched him the last game in Oakland, where the park is pitcher friendly and the lineup not so good.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
If they were trying to give him the very best chance of having a couple of good outings, whether for confidence or to pump trade value (which was not quite as big a long shot as Freddie Freeman not embarrassing himself at 3B, but close), you'd probably want to get the Padres start in.
Bowman tweeted something about the start probably being his last regardless of the result, which I did not really understand.
Just stick him on the 60 day DL and activate him when rosters expand. Pretty simple solution.