Week 19 Two-Start Pitchers Update

Here is the latest update to Week 19 two-start pitchers. Again this list is subject to change going forward.

Pitchers not listed on last update: Danks, Wakefield, Reyes, LeBlanc.

Pitchers no longer scheduled for two starts: Floyd, Humber, Britton.

Let’s take a look at Jo-Jo Reyes. The California native was a second-round pick of the Braves in 2003. He had some very strong seasons in the minor in the Atlanta organization and he seemed destined to be the next impact hurler for the club. But in 41 games for the Braves, he was 5-15 with a 6.40 ERA.

Sometimes a change of scenery is what the doctor calls for in these situations and the Braves included him in the Yunel Escobar deal last year. But nobody expects a struggling pitcher to put things together pitching in the AL East. This year with the Blue Jays, Reyes was 5-8 with a 5.40 ERA in 20 starts before he was waived.

The Orioles picked him up, which is a classic good news-bad news deal. On the plus side, Reyes gets to continue his pitching in the majors. On the flip side, he’s still competing in the AL East. Reyes’ first appearance for Baltimore came in a relief role but he moves back into the rotation to replace Zach Britton, who suffered a shoulder strain.

In 121 games in the minors, Reyes recorded an 8.3 SO/9 ratio. But in the majors that mark falls to 5.7 SO/9. And when you combine that with a 3.9 BB/9, it’s easy to see why Reyes has struggled so much in his time in the big leagues.

Reyes throws hard and he is primarily a fastball pitcher. The problem is that he is just not overpowering with the pitch and his secondary offerings are not enough to make up for that fact. He also throws a slider and a change. This year the slider has been a decent pitch for Reyes, but he only throws it 11.3% of the time.

He gets some swings outside of the zone (31.0 O-Swing%) but batters have a 76.9 O-Contact%, which would be one of the worst marks if he had enough innings to qualify. Furthermore, Reyes has just a 6.7 SwStr% this season, which matches his career average.

In his career, Reyes has done okay against LHB, with a lifetime .742 OPS allowed to lefties. Perhaps he can carve out a role as a LOOGY. But at this point, there’s little reason for optimism about Reyes turning into an effective starting pitcher.