George Klassen's Poor Start Raises Concerns About His Leadership
George Klassen struggled to find his rhythm on the mound, allowing two earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings pitched in the Los Angeles Angels' 4-2 loss against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night.
Klassen, who has shown promise in his young big-league career, didn't have the same command and control as his previous start against the Houston Astros. He struggled to get ahead of hitters, landing the first pitch for a strike in just 44% of his hitters faced.
The Angels' offense didn't provide much support for Klassen, managing only six hits and scoring just one run. They faced left-hander Parker Messick, who is in the conversation for American League Rookie of the Year. Messick tossed six innings of one-run ball on three hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
"I thought maybe the command probably wasn't as good as it was in Houston," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "But I think the maturity is starting to show where a start like that, maybe earlier in the year, might have blown up."
Klassen's struggles were evident in his inability to induce swings-and-misses on his fastball. He had a 6% whiff rate on the fastball, compared to a 33% whiff rate on his slider. This was a significant drop-off from his season average whiff rate on each pitch, which was 26.9% on the fastball and 49.2% on the slider.
"I had some things working, some things not working," Klassen said. "So just use what I got and just keep it mild."
Klassen's command issues made life difficult for him, as the Guardians hit 11 balls hard out of 18 balls put in play against him. He allowed seven hard-hit balls out of nine balls put in play against his fastball.
The Angels will look to bounce back from their loss and get back on track in their next game. Klassen will need to regroup and find his rhythm on the mound if he wants to help his team make a push for the playoffs.
Source: Yahoo Sports