STARTERS: Early-season surprises, 2015

When it comes to starting pitchers, most owners are prepared for early-season surprises. After all, small data samples lend themselves to large swings in surface stats.

That said, it can be easy to get impatient when you have a struggling starting pitcher. Conversely, not all starting pitchers who have started the season strong are worth holding.

A more effective approach is to look at the skills underlying a starting pitcher's surface stats.

Here are a bunch of guys in each league who can be considered early-season surprises in one form or another.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chris Archer (RHP, TAM) is showing signs of taking another step forward in 2015. He has a 1.07 ERA and 0.83 WHIP after three starts, and his base skills have been off the...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Starting Pitchers

Max Meyer has looked like two different pitchers during his home and road starts.
Jun 14 2025 3:05am
Sandy Alcantara's rough post-injury stats have been driven by some deep struggles against lefty bats.
Jun 7 2025 3:05am
Ben Brown's ugly surface stats in May hid some excellent underlying skills.
May 31 2025 3:09am
Jesús Luzardo's early elite surface stats have been fueled by significant gains in his underlying skills.
May 24 2025 3:05am
Ben Brown's mediocre surface stats are hiding some intriguing skills.
May 17 2025 3:05am

Tools