Yahoo Sports recently wrote about a Cub prospect doing quite well in the majors.
Despite averaging 94.5 mph with his fastball while posting a 3.09 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, Andrew Cashner
recorded just 128 strikeouts over 175.0 innings last season after
finally becoming a full-time starter. The K rate improved after the
All-Star break, when he produced a 2.14 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with a 61:19
K:BB ratio over 75.2 innings. In Cashner’s first three starts of the season, he allowed
just three runs over 21.0 innings, fanning 22 batters over that span.
Cashner’s outing against the Tigers was especially dominant, as he tossed a shutout
against Detroit, striking out 11 and yielding one lone hit (a
single).
Cashner's strike out percentage (27.5) is a career high. As any pitcher with a 1.29 ERA, Cashner has
experienced some good fortune in the early going, as his .196 BABIP is
especially good considering he also has a 2.50 GB/FB ratio. But all
those ground balls should lead to few home runs allowed, and he also
hasn’t given up many line drives (16.0%). PETCO Park has increased
strikeouts by nine percent over the past three years, which is the most
in baseball, so Cashner has that going for him as well.
Yahoo Sports concluded that part of the
reason the Cubs traded him was because they didn’t think Cashner could
ever be a 200-inning workhorse, but assuming he can stay healthy, he has
all the makings of being a top-15 starter.
Those are the kinds of stories you don't want to hear when the Cubs are having a drought finding quality, young starting pitchers from their system.
