On May 27, Ubaldo Jimenez had started 10 games for the Cleveland Indians in the 2012 season.
Of those ten games, five of them were quality starts and in the other five he allowed four or more runs. While Jimenez held a 5-4 record, his ERA was at a season high, 5.79.
In those 10 starts, Jimenez had a 33:42 K:BB over 56 innings. He also allowed 58 hits in those starts, ballooning his WHIP to 1.79.
Then, June started and while Jimenez is just 3-3 over his last seven starts, he has shown exactly what made him a huge acquisition from the Colorado Rockies at the 2011 MLB trade deadline.
Jimenez has thrown 46 innings, posted a 2.93 ERA, but, most importantly, Jimenez has a 44:16 K:BB and has allowed 38 hits, for a 1.17 WHIP.
Jimenez is throwing strikes and has turned back into the player who the Indians thought they were getting when they traded Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, two very good arms, to acquire the 28-year-old Dominican right-hander.
As the Indians head into the All-Star break and rumors have swirled about their interest in several players:
Shane Victorino – by Ken Rosenthal
Matt Garza – by Jon Paul Morosi
Chase Headley – by Jon Heyman
Carlos Quentin – by Buster Olney
While I have mentioned others in previous articles, particularly right-handed bats and pitchers like Ryan Dempster of the Chicago Cubs and Brandon McCarthy of the Oakland A’s, the Indians may have improved their rotation with the apparent divine intervention that has taken place with Ubaldo Jimenez and his ability to pitch efficiently in MLB.
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