Zach Davies' recent run

[pogokat]

Updated stats. Not shown is that Zach has among the lowest exit velocities on batted balls in the majors (i.e. weak contact). Might explain his low BABIP.

 

http://i.imgur.com/DgmVwov.png

 

Which passes the eye test too. Gets a high amount of dribblers back to himself too. That comeback pitch on the low outside corner to righties is such a good pitch, was just thinking last night how it looks like Greg Maddux, who also got weak contacts and dribblers back to himself a lot.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing about Maddux...obviously he's not that good, but 90% of Greg maddux would still be an all star

[homer]

I realize people are reticent to make Maddux comparisons but if you look at Maddux's age 23 season it's very comparable to what Zach is doing right now.

[BallFour]

Love the success, but anybody else worried about if they raise the strike zone? Kid consistently pounds the bottom of the zone.

[tmwiese55]

Love the success, but anybody else worried about if they raise the strike zone? Kid consistently pounds the bottom of the zone.

 

Yes, I've thought of exactly that potential issue.

[3and2Fastball]

From what I can tell, Davies is the real deal. He gets tremendous movement on his pitches and I like the way he battles. I hope the Brewers are very conservative with pitch counts and innings pitched with him for the rest of the year and in 2017. If he can stay healthy he can be a big part of our run in 2018/2019

[1992casey]

It's apparent that they're watching pitch counts. He's only exceeded 100 in games that have been easy. I'm sure that the team has an innings limit in mind, although the last time I checked, he seemed to be on a pace for a number that would be a reasonable increase over last year. If all goes well for the rest of the year, I think he can be in a position to exceed 200 innings next year.

[danzig6767]

I realize people are reticent to make Maddux comparisons but if you look at Maddux's age 23 season it's very comparable to what Zach is doing right now.

Davies reminds me more of Marco Estrada. Both have a 88-91 MPH fastball, a plus changeup, and pretty good command of both.

 

A pitcher can have a long productive career, even while lacking a power fastball so long as he can command the pitches he throws.

[homer]

Now that Davies is done for the season, I thought I'd update this post. The total line is what he's done since the beginning of May. Reminder that this kid is only 23 years old.

 

http://i.imgur.com/23rFB8d.png

[jerichoholicninja]

Davies pitched well at the end of last year and only had a disastrous first month in the majors this season so I'm not really surprised he's doing well. The only thing his detractors keep bringing up in his size which is basically irrelevant. If you throw strikes you can and generally will pitch well. And that's what Zach does.

[clancyphile]

Davies pitched well at the end of last year and only had a disastrous first month in the majors this season so I'm not really surprised he's doing well. The only thing his detractors keep bringing up in his size which is basically irrelevant. If you throw strikes you can and generally will pitch well. And that's what Zach does.

 

I liked Davies a lot - had him at #8 on my post-2015 ballot and #15 in my 2016 pre-season (due to some of the acquisitions via trades and re-thinking things over the off-season). Not as high as Suter (who could post some Davies-esque numbers in the rotation, IMO).

 

Worst case, he and Suter are the back end of the Brewers' rotation when they make their run. Best case, I think they are both 85-90% of what Greg Maddux was, command/control pitchers who use that to get a lot of weak dribblers, ground outs, and pop-ups.

 

2017 is the year to stick `em in the rotation and see what they are. Either way, they are part of the Brewers' next run.

[brewmann04]

I think Davies is a solid #4 in the rotation and should be part of the 2017 rotation