Anyone else irritated by Kazmir yet???

[rib217]

I love Kaz, the K's are great and i'm well aware that he is a monster who will produce but is anyone else irritated by him lately. I mean 5 of his last 7 starts have been mediocre at best; not what i've been needing from him lately

[mweir145]

His WHIP last year was 1.38 (career 1.36). He hasn't exactly proven himself to be a true ace yet, so these struggles are not entirely surprising.

[yanks924]

than man has a 3 era in over 80 innings with like a 1.18 whip....

[rib217]

than man has a 3 era in over 80 innings with like a 1.18 whip....

thanks for pointing that out, i couldnt check his stat line! Like i said, 5 of his 7 last starts have not been great for my fantasy team, thus making it a bit irritating!!

[Yoda]

He typically does better in the 2nd half. Last year, he was a completely different pitcher. It might take a bit longer for him to get going this year since he missed an entire month but you'll be very happy once August comes around.

[rainman23]

Yeah, I was stunned to see him hit the ground running this year. After that DL stint I expected it to take him quite a while to harness that nasty arsenal he's got. It certainly did last year. I'd look for him to get back there eventually, but expect a few rough spots until then. And look at those early great starts as an unexpected bonus.

[deerayfan072]

His problem is that he has absolutely no confidence in his slider, and he shouldn't right now honestly. Kaz came out and said as much today. He cannot get his slider over for a strike and when he tries it is being hit hard and most times out of the park. He has been throwing his change very well and his fastball has been very good, but his slider has always been a strike out pitch for him and I think he is getting frustrated with it. I think it may have to do with the arm and how he has had to come back from that. I think the more he throws the more confident he will be in it and he will get his slider back.

[freeling_prideful]

Kazmir's K's are a downfall. Instead of really attacking hitters on 0-2, 1-2, 2-2 with his fastball (which he can really throw past people in the strike zone, which is a very rare ability...few people have true swing-and-miss fastballs), he too often starts messing with junk out of the zone. I feel like he's always on a 3-2 count, which is what has led to his high walk/strikeout totals throughout his career. Instead of going 3-2 to every batter, it'd be great to see Kazmir just throw 4 pitches to every batter, all in the strike zone. I bet he'd still strike out 8 every 9, and considering how hard it is for hitters to make good contact with that fastball, he'd probably end up being able to pitch 7 innings consistently instead of the 6 or so that he averages on like 105+ pitches.