White Sox: Has Jose Quintana Turned Around His Season?
By Brian Draus
Has White Sox ace turned around his season after a dreadful start to 2017? The All-Star pitcher had his best outing of the season in his previous start.
For those who haven’t noticed, Chicago White Sox ace Jose Quintana has righted the ship recently. Many fans and pundits alike became concerned when Quintana was roughed up over his first four starts, however is he back to being himself? Let’s break down his stellar performances versus the Royals to see if he really has turned the corner.
First of all, there is a key detail mentioned in the final sentence you see above. That being the fact that Quintana faced one team, the Royals who cannot hit one iota. To give you an idea how dreadful their offense is, they have scored 81 runs, which is dead last in MLB. On top of that, the San Francisco Giants are second to last, but have crossed the plate 103 times, 22 more times than the Royals.
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In his first four outings, Quintana only recorded an out in the seventh inning once (4/9 vs Twins) not to mention he allowed three or more earned runs each trip to the bump. The sole exception was the start on April 9 versus the Twins, which he picked up one of his four losses in.
Now, let’s take a look at his starts versus the Royals. His first time opposing Kansas City took place at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 26, and Royals hitters struggled to make contact. Quintana fanned ten men in only six innings, meaning 55.6 percent of the outs he recorded were via the strikeout. They did manage to score two earned runs off of him, however he picked up win number one of the 2017 campaign.
Moving ahead to this past Tuesday, Quintana returned to form for the first time this season. Not only did he throw eight innings, but no Kansas City runner touched the plate. Only four batters reached base by way of the hit, and two others drew a base on balls. Is this the Quintana we will be seeing for the rest of the year?
Reverting back to the second paragraph, a key point is made. Yes Kansas City is an awful team, but remember the beginning of 2015. After his April 19 start versus the Detroit Tigers, his ERA had ballooned to 8.40, however Quintana quickly reduced it following that awful start (4 IP, 9 ER). He then became the pitcher we knew for the rest of the season, and finished with a 3.36 ERA.
Should Sox fans expect these type of starts to continue from Quintana? All you have to do is read the above paragraph, and remember that history can be a good indicator when worrying about early struggles. So will Quintana have an ERA around 2.50? That is highly doubtful, however do keep in mind that his track record shows he is one of the most consistent starters in the league, so don’t lose too much sleep over this.
Next: Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia Carrying Offense Early
Are you enjoying the start, Sox fans? It’s a good idea to as we shouldn’t expect a contender in 2017.