Kansas City Royals Breakdown: The Rotation

Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Edinson Volquez

Edinson Volquez was brought in by the Kansas City Royals to replace James Shields, and thus far, he has lived up to that billing. Even after his last two outings where he gave up seven runs on eight hits and nine walks in eight innings of work, Volquez still owns a 3.19 ERA and a 1.157 WHiP. This comes on the heels of his excellent 2014 season, where Volquez posted a 13-7 record with a 3.04 ERA and a 1.230 WHiP.

So, which pitcher is Volquez? Is the the pitcher from last season, and the one that the Royals saw during April of this year? Or is he the inconsistent starter who tantalizes for a couple of starts before giving way to problems with his command? The answer may actually be somewhat in between.

As a pitcher who has a natural tendency towards the ground ball, as Volquez has a 0.96:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio throughout his career, the capricious nature of the batted ball can have a large effect on how he performs from start to start. If a couple of ground balls find a hole early on, that can dramatically impact how the game looks overall.

Last season, when Edinson Volquez truly broke through, he was attacking the opposition primarily with his sinker and curve, using those pitches 42.44% and 25.87% of the time. This led to more ground balls, and with a solid Pirates defense behind him, those stellar numbers from 2014. This season, while Volquez is still using his sinker more than the rest of his repertoire, the usage of his curve has dropped by over four percent, and his change is now the second most used pitch.

That drop in usage on his sinker may be due to the improved success against it. Opponents produced a .292 batting average on Volquez’ sinker last year; this season, they are hitting .318 against that pitch. Meanwhile, opponents have a .220 batting average against his change, and a .195 batting average against his curve.

Given that Edinson Volquez is producing right around his career norms, this may well be the pitcher we see. However, if Volquez does continue to attack the opposition and the Kansas City Royals defense does it’s part, then he may be the starter the Royals have the least concerns about going forward.

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