2015 St. Louis Cardinals’ Season Review: Disappointments

2. Michael Wacha 

I talked at length about Wacha’s struggles the other day, if you missed that check it out here.

The narrative that has been that Wacha had a rough second half and that he must have been tired and worn out from all of the innings. This narrative, also states that Wacha was perfect in 2013 and that we need to get more of the 2013 Wacha. This really just isn’t true, and it’s sad. Wacha has gotten away with a lack of fastball command for a large part of his career and I discussed this already and won’t bore you to death here by repeating myself.

A little bit more on Wacha that is really indicative of Wacha not being who we have made him out to be, is that his first and second half SIERA are not that different (3.77 and 4.38). Neither are good, but the first half shows you just how much Wacha was getting away with his lack of fastball command.

Our only hope for next season is that Wacha can learn to command his fastball and locate it down in the zone. Otherwise, he is a third-fourth starter at best.