Michael Wacha Signs With The Tampa Bay Rays
Michael Wacha will take the mound for a new team in 2021. The 29-year-old pitcher has signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. The deal is for one year and three million dollars. The Tampa Bay Times were the first to announce the signing.
Michael Wacha signs a $3 million deal and gives the Rays an experienced starter in the rotation after they lost veteran Charlie Morton. #RaysUp https://t.co/d1yWPEQy1f
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) December 18, 2020
Michael Wacha Signs with Tampa Bay
The 29-year-old had an unusual season for the New York Mets. He posted a 6.62 ERA with 37 strikeouts and seven walks in 34 innings. The earned runs aren’t encouraging, but some of his peripheral stats point in a more positive direction. Wacha’s strikeout percentage jumped from 18.5 percent in 2019 with the St. Louis Cardinals to 23.7 percent. That figure represented the best rate of his career. The walk rate was also a career-best at just 4.5 percent, which was almost half of a career eight percent mark. A BABIP allowed of .366 indicates a decent amount of bad luck for the right-handed veteran.
The Cardinals originally drafted the 6’6″ starting pitcher in the first round of the 2012 Amateur Draft and he debuted quickly in 2013. He would pitch in St. Louis until 2019 with an ERA of 3.91 and 759 strikeouts in 901 and two-thirds innings. The numbers with the Mets don’t change his overall career arc much, but the increased strikeouts and decreased walks are very positive at this stage of Wacha’s career.
Wacha’s Fit on His New Team
Wacha is a fine option for the fourth or fifth spot in the team’s rotation. His numbers will never blow people away, but he won’t kill a team either. He has an effective mix of four pitches but it looks like it might be just three moving forward. His curveball usage has historically been just over 10 percent, but he threw it just 1.1 percent of the time in 2020. The cutter jumped up to 27.1 percent. It had never been above 19.6 percent in any previous season. That sort of repertoire change could mean big things for the next phase of Wacha’s career.
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