Milwaukee Brewers: Where are the recent free agent pitchers now?

During the off-season Milwaukee Brewers fans clamored for one of the top free agent starting pitchers. Let’s see how the top four are doing so far.

Yu Darvish

The most coveted of all the free agent starting pitchers was Yu Darvish. Rumors circulated for weeks about the varying levels of interest the Milwaukee Brewers had in him. Eventually he signed a huge deal with the Cubs and it was on to the next best available starter.

This year Darvish has seemed to struggle with every team except for the Milwaukee Brewers.  He has started five games, including two against the Brewers. In the three games he didn’t start against the Brewers he gave up at least four runs in each and never made it out of the fourth inning. In 12 innings against the Brewers, he has allowed one earned run.

He has given up 24 hits in 25 innings pitched. His ERA is over 5.00. Darvish’ WHIP is above 1.40 and he has yet to get a victory.  THat’s not exactly the start the Cubs were hoping for. but he gets some bonus points for shutting down division rival Milwaukee twice.

Jake Arrieta

Another pitcher that was an anticipated target for the Milwaukee Brewers was Jake Arrieta.  Just prior to the regular season starting, Arrieta signed with the Phillies to a three-year deal worth $75 million. Arrieta has started four games this year. His first start against the Marlins wasn’t great, but after that he rebounded nicely.  In four starts he has won three games. His ERA is currently under 2.00 and his WHIP is under 1.00. His best game of the year came against Pittsburgh where he struck out ten is seven strong innings. The Phillies must be happy with his start to the season.

Lance Lynn

The Milwaukee Brewers were also linked to Lance Lynn during the off season.  Lynn signed with Minnesota in mid-March and has not done well this season. He has started four games and only one of those starts was good. That was a start against Houston when he pitched five scoreless innings. Otherwise, Lynn has given up at least five runs in each of the other three starts. This includes his most recent start against the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers tagged Lynn for six runs in less than five innings. Lynn has yet to win a game. His ERA is 7.72 and his WHIP is above 2.00. He has given up 20 hits in 18 2/3 innings.  That’s not the start that Minnesota had in mind when they signed him to the one-year deal.

Alex Cobb

The fourth of the big named off-season starters that Milwaukee Brewers fans talked about was Alex Cobb.  The Orioles signed Cobb to a four-year deal worth $57 million late in Spring Training.  Darvish and Lynn may not be having great starts, but they aren’t nearly has bad as Cobb. The start to his year has been dreadful to say the least.  He has started three games and has yet to make it past the fourth inning.

Cobb has yet to have a start where he has given up less than five runs. He has yet to win a game, and has an ERA over 13.00 with a WHIP just under 3.00. Cobb has given up 30 hits in just under 12 innings and has a total of four strikeouts.  All four of those strikeouts came in one start. The Orioles have had a rough year so far and one the reasons is the lack of success of Cobb.

Next: Is It Time To Cut Ties With Eric Sogard?

With one month of the season complete, the top free agent starting pitchers this past off-season are collectively not doing well.  Arrieta is the only one of these four who has pitched well.  If this continues the Brewers may be happy they didn’t sign one of the big name free-agent starting pitchers and saved their money for the later this year or next.