Sir Chadwick Billingsley

[The Artful Dodger]

I'd say Billingsley has been a pleasant surprise this season and I say that given that excellent K/9, although it's not quite as high as where it was a month or two ago I reckon. I envisioned him being a K/IP pitcher at best but he's really mixing in that breaking ball nicely, which is his best pitch. I'd say the difference from his wild April/May juncture to his turnaround is that he's not hanging pitches over the zone with the wrong pitch selection. This either forced Billingsley to make more pitches given that his fastball would flatten for foulballs or because he's putting hittable pitches in play. He's cut that down as well as his walks and is pitching with greater confidence as a result, mixing his pitches very well.

No projections but he's set for a nice stretch given that the NL West as a whole tends to be strikeout-prone, San Diego and Arizona in particular.

[Leena]

His K/9 has gone down slightly, but that will happen when you pitch quality starts instead of grinding out 100+ pitches in 5 innings.

I love all the owners that gave up on Barbara in April.

[ataraxia]

I tried to buy low on him back in May when he was outright miserable, but he was doing so absolutely bad that the owner decided to stick with him...
Supposedly his train of thought was "I've been through this much hell already, might as well stick with it."

I wish I had pushed for Billingsley more strongly now...