Dominating.
That is the only word that can be used to explain Zach
Britton’s last four starts.
In his last for outings, Britton is 4-0 with 0.94 ERA and
has a K/BB ratio of 29/7. He has also been able to produce at least 10
groundball outs in each of his last four starts.
A big part of Britton’s success is being able to locate his
fastball and sinker in the lower-half of the strike zone and the ability of his
slider to become an out pitch.
The Blue Jays were absolutely fooled by his slider last
night, and were unable to make good contact on any of his fastballs or sinkers.
This is the Zach Britton that Orioles fans were used to
seeing in the first half of the 2011 season when Britton was arguably the
Orioles best starter until June, when he hit a brick wall (not literally) and
ended up on the DL with a strained left shoulder.
But the Britton of the 2011 first-half is back and possibly
even better.
While Britton has a still needs to lower his WHIP, 1.44, his
strikeout total is starting to increase, going from 5.66 K/9 last season to
7.96 this season.
In his last four starts he has lowered his ERA considerably,
going from 6.23 on August 18th to 4.15 as of September 5th.
Britton just needs to keep attacking hitters the way he has
been, using his fastball, sinker, and slider. If he continues being aggressive
on the mound and being able to locate his pitches, he will continue his
dominant ways.
Britton is an integral part of the Orioles rotation right
now and his recent success has helped vault the Orioles into a First Place tie with
the ailing Yankees.
Hopefully Zach Britton will be able continue to build upon
his recent success against American League hitters, because dominate
performances will go a long way in bringing the Orioles the AL East title.
The answer to if Zach Britton is back is yes. If he continues to pitch like this then he's more than back.
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