By Jeff Parker
Gil Meche is dealing. The 30 year old right hander is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in his last six starts and has retaken the mantle as KC’s ace as Zack Greinke begins his descent back to earth. Meche, whose $55 million deal was widely mocked, has been everything the Royals hoped for when they signed him after the 2006 season. Two and a half years into “the contract” Meche has posted a 3.74 ERA and 119 ERA+ in 510 innings (only three other AL pitchers have a better ERA+ in that time frame, min. 500 IP).
Right now though he is at his best. His last two starts have produced game scores of 77 and 84 as he has pitched sixteen scoreless innings while allowing just eight hits. Tuesday’s complete game shut out was just the second of his career and his first as a Royal. He threw 132 pitches which raised some alarms around he Royals corner of the blogosphere. This was just the fifth time that he threw 120+ pitches as a Royal so it’s not like it’s an every outing occurrence. Looking at the previous four times we see that there haven’t been any long term side effects.
7/25/07 – 120 pitches. Meche wasn’t particularly sharp giving up five runs in seven innings. His next start he gave up just two runs in seven innings (of course it wasn’t enough as he took the loss). The start after that he got rocked but then he ended the ‘07 season with ten straight starts where he gave up three runs or less.
9/24/07 – 124 pitches. Eight inning gem in which he only gave up three runs. Next and final start of ‘07 he went six innings giving up just two runs and striking out seven.
4/27/08 – 129 pitches. This is the game that turned his ‘08 season around. He entered with an 8.00 ERA but gave up three runs in 6.2 innings. Next start he pitched seven scoreless innings. He gave up five runs in the start after that but then pitched four straight games where he gave up three or less.
5/08/09 – 120 pitches. He only went 5.2 innings in this one – it wasn’t a great start at all. Next start was even worse when he gave up five runs in 4.1 innings. He has had only one bad start since then though and has given up just seven earned runs in his last six starts.
Meche, having the best season of his career at this point (3.31 ERA in 84.1 IP), seems focused and driven. KC will need him to stay among the league’s elite if they hope to stay in contention for the AL Central title – a hope that is fading with each passing day.
