It hasn’t really been a good year for right-hander Brad Brach. He agreed to a deal with the Cubs, then got mono and after taking his physical he lost some guaranteed money. He was slightly delayed in spring training, but was ready to go on Opening Day. As far as his performance out of the bullpen through April? Not pretty.
Brach came in with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning after the Mariners took a 5-4 lead. He walked Jay Bruce, but got out of the seventh with no runs allowed. Then, he came back out for the eighth after Kyle Schwarber blasted a go-ahead two-run homer. Brach immediately walked the leadoff hitter on four pitches.
To Brach’s credit, he did get a double play and was then lifted for Steve Cishek, who got the four-out save.
But despite getting away with no damage the constant walks are becoming a huge problem for Brach. In 12.1 innings, the right-hander already has 15 walks. He hasn’t pitched more than two consecutive innings without walking a batter and in five of his 12 appearances Brach has walked at least two hitters.
Just how awful has Brach’s lack of strike throwing been? Remember how bad Tyler Chatwood was in 2018? He averaged 8.25 walks per nine innings last year and had a 19.6% walk rate. Right now, Brach is averaging 10.95 walks per nine and has a 26.3% walk rate.
Brach is more than doubling the average amount of walks in his career.
The Cubs have a lot of pitchers on their 40-man roster, so maybe it’s not the worst idea to give Brach the good old sore shoulder excuse to go on the injured list. Just like Chatwood last year, this luck is going to run out eventually. Maybe give Brach a reset and see if a little time off can help.
