Kyle Barraclough yet to lose over seven starts for Worcester
The WooSox offense stole the show last week in Syracuse when the bats came alive and hit an astonishing 21 home runs. That would be the most in all of minor league baseball during the week.
With all of the fireworks happening on the offensive side of things for Worcester, it might be easy to overlook some of the great pitching performances we saw in Syracuse. It’s also important to see what WooSox starter Kyle Barraclough is doing.
Barraclough got the start last Friday against the Mets and put together another quality start. The veteran right-hander has yet to pitch fewer than five innings in any of his starts, which is so important given how taxed the Worcester bullpen has been this year. He improved to 7-0 with a 2.57 ERA since he was signed by the Red Sox.
The big question remains, why not a call-up given the number of bullpen games we have seen in Boston?
One reason could be the lack of strikeouts at the Triple-A level. Barraclough is carrying a 6.0 K/9 so far this season. He has only struck out more than 4 batters in one of his starts this season. He has has been walking his fair share of batters. He has walked two or more batters in every start but one this year.
Some might say the win-loss record is an overrated stat for pitchers in baseball. Barraclough is only allowing a .181 batting average to opposing hitters this year. That would be the lowest on the team.
While the strikeouts and walks might not be where you would like them, Barraclough is producing a ton of weak contact and getting outs when he needs them. It might be time to see what he can do back up in the MLB for a spot start while the Red Sox are waiting on the returns of Chris Sale and Tanner Houck.
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Leave him at Triple A. Bloomers next unintelligent move will be to fire Cora.