Michael Wacha: The Red Sox pitcher barely anyone is talking about
Wacha is having a career year with the Red Sox this season
I can safely say I did not have Red Sox righty Michael Wacha tossing a three-hit, complete game shutout on my bingo card Monday night. Wacha who has been flying under-the-radar all season long was brilliant against the Angels.
The right-handed hurler is now the third Red Sox starter to toss a complete game this season. Nathan Eovaldi and Nick Pivetta have also gone the distance for manager Alex Cora. No other team in baseball has a starter with more than one complete game.
Wacha’s masterful performance helped improve the Red Sox to 28-27 and the team is finally above the .500 mark. The Angels on the other hand are struggling, the Halo’s have dropped 12 straight games.
With the win, Wacha improved to 4-1 on the season with a 1.99 ERA in nine starts.
The complete game was Wacha’s second of his career. His only complete game was back in 2017 when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“It’s been a long time coming, I guess, but it was a lot of fun going out there tonight and getting deep into the game and being able to kind of finish what I started,” he said.
While Wacha has been wildly successful on the mound this season, he hasn’t gotten as much attention as the likes of Eovaldi or Pivetta. Both starters are pitching incredibly well, especially Pivetta who is on a hot run of six straight games with a 5-1 record and a 1.32 ERA over that time frame.
Wacha who signed a one-year deal with the Sox this past offseason has been impressive since the beginning of the season. His consistent approach on the mound has been paying dividends and has thrown water on the flames from the anti-Chaim Bloom portion of the fan base.
Wacha has now pitched twice against the Angels, once at home and on the road. The results are eye popping has he has held the Angels to only six hits, eight strikeouts and zero runs in 14 2/3 innings of work. Wacha is now 2-0 against Los Angeles.
As the season approaches the second week of June, it is safe to say barring another injury setback, Wacha is primed for a career year. Wacha’s consistency on the mound has given Boston a sneaky good rotation that features Eovaldi, Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Rich Hill.
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