Dairyland Express
Fansided

Milwaukee Brewers Bizarre Opening Day Starter Curse

By Kenny Jilek

SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 29: Chase Anderson #57 of the Milwaukee Brewers slides as he scores during the third inning on Opening Day against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on March 29, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 29: Chase Anderson #57 of the Milwaukee Brewers slides as he scores during the third inning on Opening Day against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on March 29, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Brewers
MILWAUKEE, WI – MAY 06: Chase Anderson #57 of the Milwaukee Brewers is relieved by Craig Counsell #30 during the sixth inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park on May 6, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

2018 – Chase loses ace status

Chase Anderson once pinch ran for Eric Chavez in the 9th inning of a game against the Mets in 2014 and the next year, in 2015, he pinched hit in the 9th inning for Matt Stiles.

Moving forward, pinch running is essentially off the table for Anderson after that slide into home on Opening Day last season.

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Anderson had the best individual season to become the Opening Day starter of anyone on this list. He went 12-4 with a 2.74 ERA and became the rotation leader, especially down the stretch. In September of 2017, he went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA and even pitched on three days rest once to help the Brewers playoff push.

That role was reversed in 2018 when he was pulled from the rotation in September in favor of a bullpen game and was not included on the playoff roster.

The biggest reason that he got the hook at the end of the season was his league-leading 30 home runs given up, exactly one per start. The pitches that gave up the most home runs? I think you can guess by now, it’s the sinker and four-seam fastball.

He gave up 15 home runs from the four-seam fastball. While that is half of the homers, he also threw the fastball 40.8 percent of the time. The most disproportional relationship from pitches to home runs is easily the sinker. He only threw it only 12.5 percent of the time but it accounted for seven home runs, 23.3 percent of them to be exact. Opponents also hit .366 off of the slider and slugged a ridiculous .704 against it.

It was not an all-around horrible season for Anderson, though. He did finish with a respectable 3.93 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. I believe he has a chance to return to form in 2019 and his performance may spell the beginning of the end for this streak. Could 2019 be the year it is finally put to rest?

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