4. Zach Davies, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers
5-0, 38 strikeouts, 1.24 WHIP, 1.5 WAR and 2.43 ERA.
A throwback pitcher in the purest form of the term, Zach Davies puts hitters to sleep with craft. He doesn’t blow hitters away like most pitchers today, which can be seen in his 88.3 MPH average two-seam fastball pitch speed.
Davies pitches to contact. He only has 38 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched, but he has done well at limiting base runners. Those batters that do reach haven’t been doing damage either. He is posting a career-high in left-on-base percentage at just over 81 percent.
The 26-year old’s 2.43 ERA is the second-best mark in the NL and the fifth-best in all of baseball. Although, May has been a tougher month for him. In April, he went 3-0 with an ERA of 1.38 in 32.2 innings pitched. During that stretch, he only allowed five earned runs, but he did walk 13 batters.
Now in May, Davies has toed the slap four times and he has an ERA of 3.91 for the month. Pitching in 23 innings, he has allowed 22 hits and 10 earned runs. However, most of that damage was done in a May 22 start against the Cincinnati Reds when he gave up six-earned runs over three innings.
Davies may be a pitcher coming back down to Earth, or he is a starter who is ready for a breakout year.