Streaking and Slumping Pitchers
Streaking
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
The way Wainwright is pitching in the second half of the year, the Cardinals could have two Cy Young contenders on their staff.
The right-hander has lead St. Louis to five straight wins in his recent starts and carries a 1.29 ERA since the break. In his most recent trip to the bump, Wainwright gave up one run through six innings, striking out seven batters, against the Nationals – on his 28th birthday.
His efforts are only outdone by teammate Chris Carpenter, who won the NL Pitcher of the Month for August with an 8-0 record and ERA just north of 2.00.
Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds
Bronson Arroyo will never stop rockin’ as long as there are games to pitch.
While the Reds are showing life in the home stretch of the season, they are still stuck in the NL Central basement. Arroyo is hoping some of those wins can come when he is on the mound. Cincy has ruined the righty’s efforts with poor run support and a feeble bullpen.
Since the All-Star break, Arroyo is just 2-4 in nine starts but boasts a 2.53 ERA. In his last three starts, the veteran pitcher is 0-1 with a 1.61 ERA. His most recent effort, a two-run, six-hit display, resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers and another no-decision for Arroyo.
Cincinnati has won four straight games heading into Friday’s game, scoring over six runs per game during this stretch.
Slumping
Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays
When Roy Halladay hits the slumping side of this article, you know things are bad in Toronto. The Doctor was beat up – by Doc standards - again in his most recent outing, allowing four runs on seven hits in six innings against the Red Sox.
In his last three appearances, Halladay has an ERA just under 8.00 and has allowed four home runs. He’s also watched his command suffer during this skid, with pitch counts soaring despite only going six innings at most.
Bobby Parnell, New York Mets
Don’t blame all the Mets' woes on Parnell. You can, however, blame some of them. The right-hander has blown leads in his last three games, going 0-3 with an ERA above 15.00. In his most recent nightmare, Parnell served up eight earned runs in just over four innings, including a grand slam.
After a promising showing against the Giants in the middle of August, in which Parnell pitched a six-inning shutout while striking out seven batters, he was walked more batters than he has whiffed and has struggled to find the strike zone with pitch counts above 100 despite short showings.
But, in Parnell’s defense, the team didn’t expect him to still be pitching in the bigs at this time of year. And neither did he.
