The Twins face the Royals with Phil Hughes taking on Yordano Ventura. Hughes is off to an odd start this season. He struck out 17 and walked five in 15 innings of work, two very respectable numbers for a pitcher, and numbers that would normally indicate success. Hughes allowed 20 hits so far, however, two of them home runs, leading to a 7.20 ERA. Even stranger is that right-handed batters, without the platoon advantage, hit .407 against him, 11 for 27, with five doubles. It seems that Hughes experience a great deal of bad luck so far. This is Phil Hughes, however, and he always seems to be pitching in bad luck. Ventura, with 13 K and 3 BB in 13 innings, allowed just six hits so far, good for an 0.69 ERA. These two pitchers are a great comparison, with similar rates in K’s and walks, but early season sample sizes result in very different ERAs.

Enjoy!