{"id":48340,"date":"2021-06-28T14:01:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T18:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=48340"},"modified":"2024-12-28T10:48:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:48:50","slug":"jake-faria-diamondbacks-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/06\/28\/jake-faria-diamondbacks-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake Faria \u201cPumped\u201d to Make His First Diamondbacks Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jake Faria, one of the newest Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, is starting Monday evening on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>. The right-hander spoke about this with the media Sunday afternoon, saying, \u201cI\u2019m pumped. It\u2019s been a while \u2014 almost two and a half years since I\u2019ve had a start in the big leagues. I\u2019m excited to get on the mound again and start a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

His arrival was not one as a cast-off who had been designated for assignment. The Los Angeles Angels<\/a> wanted to keep him but hadn\u2019t called him up yet. \u201cI had an opt-out on June 1. I was throwing well by (Triple-A West) standards and decided to push it back by two weeks to see how it went. When it came to the 15th of June, I decided to pursue other opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Triple-A Pitching Stats of Jake Faria<\/h3>\n

Faria wasn\u2019t kidding \u2014 he honestly was<\/em> pitching well. Yes, his ERA seemed high, and he gave up a lot of hits, but keep in mind that half the Triple-A West is at higher elevations. That includes his Salt Lake Bees. For the sake of comparison, consider this. Six of the ten teams in the Triple-A West are higher than Phoenix, home of the Diamondbacks and the second-highest city in the majors (1,090 feet). Those teams play in Oklahoma City (1,201 feet), Las Vegas (2,001 feet), El Paso (3,740 feet), Salt Lake City (4,226 feet), Reno (4,505 feet), and Albuquerque (5,312 feet).<\/p>\n

Since more than half of the Triple-A West is higher than the second-highest city in the majors, it makes sense that their league-average ERA is a whopping 5.72. Of the six, only Oklahoma City has given up fewer than 10.0 hits per nine. They also are the only ones to have more than 10 strikeouts per nine.<\/p>\n

Now that the background is set, let\u2019s look at Jake Faria\u2019s numbers. In 36 2\/3 innings \u2014 spread across seven games, all starts \u2014 he had a 5.65 ERA (99 ERA-minus), 1.527 WHIP, 10.1 hits per nine, 3.7 walks per nine, and 11.3 strikeouts per nine. Compare these with the Triple-A West averages \u2014 5.72 ERA, 1.549 WHIP, 9.7 hits per nine, 4.2 walks per nine, and 9.4 strikeouts per nine. The only stat where he is higher than the league average is hits per nine, but his team\u2019s average is 11.0 hits per nine.<\/p>\n

Spending 2020 at the Alternate Site<\/h3>\n

Jake Faria made his major league debut June 7, 2017, with the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a>. He bounced between the Rays and the Triple-A Durham Bulls until the trade deadline in 2019. On that date, the Rays shipped him to the Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> for All-Star first baseman Jesus Aguilar. His time with Milwaukee did not work out. His 2019 ERA with the Rays was 2.70, but with the Brewers, it was 11.42.<\/p>\n

Due to his alarmingly high ERA, he spent the entire 2020 season at the alternate site. The Brewers, despite using him solely as a reliever in 2019, wanted to move him into the starting rotation. Faria said, \u201cI was starting the whole time at the alternate site with Milwaukee \u2014 I didn\u2019t have any options. The way teams were using their pitching staffs last year, they were moving guys around a lot. I didn\u2019t get a chance to go up and throw. It wasn\u2019t as easy a decision as it was for some other players.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cIt was tough. You want to be in the big leagues. You want to be up there contributing, especially with a team that goes to the postseason. But all in all, it ended up well. I\u2019m back in the big leagues now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pitch Mix of Jake Faria<\/h3>\n

Jake Faria\u2019s pitch arsenal has varied since making his major league debut. \u201cI went from being a four-pitch guy in \u201917 to being a three-pitch guy in \u201918 and limited the way I was able to attack guys. In 2019, having been moved to the \u2018pen, I went to (thinking that) whatever secondary pitch was working the best in the \u2018pen was what I was going to throw,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While at the Brewers\u2019 alternate site, he brought the rest of his pitches back. Faria said, \u201c2020 and this year was getting back to being more of a complete, four-pitch guy. I\u2019m not splitting it 25% each pitch, but the split-fingered fastball is probably my best off-speed pitch. I\u2019ll throw that more \u2014 I\u2019m getting comfortable with it again \u2014 and will try to mix everything else in pretty frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reuniting with an Old Friend<\/h3>\n

Jake Faria and injured Diamondbacks reliever Chris Devenski went to the same high school \u2014 Gahr High School in Cerritos, California. Devenski is three years older. They did not, however, play together. Faria recalled, \u201cWhen he was a senior and I was a freshman, I was at a different school and then transferred between freshman and sophomore year. But when we both got into pro ball, I had been going to a pitching coach in San Diego for a couple of weeks. I was playing catch with Devo at our high school and told him that I thought he should come down and work with this guy. So, we started working out in San Diego three days a week the next off-season. We would carpool every day and switch off the driving duties every time. (Consequently,) I\u2019ve spent a lot of time with Devo these last 10 years.<\/p>\n

Happy to Be Back in the Big Leagues<\/h3>\n

After opting out of his contract with the Angels, Faria had to play the nerve-wracking waiting game. \u201cIt was really stressful \u2014 different teams had called, and I was trying to figure out where to go. The Diamondbacks said hey \u2014 we\u2019re going to put you in the big leagues. We need pitching, we like you, so we\u2019re going to throw you in the big leagues. It was a lot of peaks and pits, going up and down for three days, but I\u2019m glad I ended up here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So far with the Diamondbacks, he\u2019s been a reliever despite having been groomed to be a major league starter. That\u2019s okay with Faria, however. \u201cI\u2019m just happy to be back in the big leagues. Last year was tough, being at the alternate site all year and not getting an opportunity, but I\u2019m glad I can be here to provide an extra arm in the bullpen. I\u2019m just happy to be back in the big leagues to contribute however I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Faria\u2019s first Diamondbacks start will be Monday evening in St. Louis. He will face Wade LeBlanc (0\u20131, 6.75 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 Central, or 5:15 Arizona Time.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>