Cleveland Indians second-half projections: Cody Anderson and the starting pitchers

Corey Kluber, SP

No surprise here. ZiPS and Steamer realize that Kluber has been phenomenally unlucky in the first half of 2015, and they are adjusting his second-half outcome accordingly. They both have his K/9 coming down from 10.40 and his walks going up from 1.89, but they both also have his ERA finally getting closer his fantastic 2.51 FIP. This is most likely a result of the models adjusting to his previous season (wherein he finished with a 2.44 ERA), but it could happen in large part because of – again – Lindor and Urshela.

A 6.6 WAR season would be worse than his 7.2 WAR 2014 Cy Young winning campaign, but only slightly. Moreover, that is with a few disappointing starts to begin the year. If the Indians are going to make a playoff push, it is going to require this kind of second half from Kluber.

Carlos Carrasco, SP

According to ZiPS, Carrasco will improve his ERA (down from 4.07) but he… won’t… start? Oddly enough, ZiPS has him coming in from the pen in six games, which could easily be some left over weirdness from the fact that he started only 14 games last year out of 40 appearances. At least Steamer realizes that probably will not happen, and still has his ERA improving. Each model has his FIP as worse compared to his first-half 2.74 FIP.

Carrasco’s best season was last year when he was worth 3.1 WAR and his 2.7 WAR this year already has him on pace to beat it.

Danny Salazar, SP

ZiPS and Steamer seem to disagree on what Danny Salazar will do with the second half of the season. On the one hand, ZiPS sees some regression in order, to the tune of his K/9 rate dropping from 10.58 and his BB/9 rising from 2.37.  Steamer, meanwhile, has him taking off and allowing less runners, despite a decreased K/9. Either way, he’s on pace to have the best season of his career – his previous best was last year with a 1.8 WAR and he currently has 1.7 WAR in the first half of 2015.

Cody Anderson, SP

Cody Anderson regressing would not be a surprise, but wow, these projection models are harsh.  Over his first four starts as the Tribe’s fifth rotation member, he has held an absurd 0.89 ERA and more realistic 3.51 FIP. The high FIP comes from the fact that he has not struck out lot of batters (3.26 K/9 in first half), but he has not walked many either (0.89 BB/9). ZiPS and Steamer both have him crashing back down to earth, with ZiPS being especially harsh.

Neither model has any other previous seasons worth major league data to work with, and only four starts this year, so it is mostly a shot in the dark – as the varied projections would suggest. Both models have his K/9 rising to what I consider a realistic mark of around 5.50. Anderson has already been worth 0.5 WAR in his four starts, but neither projection model has him reaching 1.0 WAR, with ZiPS actually dragging him back down to 0.2 wins.