Jeremy Affeldt Deals

Jeremy Affeldt looked ridiculously good last evening, getting a rare two inning save (Brain Wilson was unavailable), striking out five, and giving the Giants 16 total strikeouts on the night.

It is a moment like this that you just have to marvel at the talent that the Giants have accumulated in their bullpen. Affeldt is, on most nights, the fourth option out of the bullpen and showed tonight that when he has control of his pitches, he's unhittable. A tip of the hat to Brian Sabean for assembling this group.

I am not sure exactly what changed but Affeldt has regained a feel for the strike zone. In the first two months of the year, he was wild and not exactly effectively wild; he was walking 4+ batters per nine innings. However, since June started, he has been a completely different pitcher.

Here is a rundown of his excellent stretch that he has put together for June:

2.05 FIP
1.42 xFIP
0.68 ERA
11.48 K/9
5.67 K/BB

While this is just a very small stretch of innings, there is a lot that is encouraging here. Keeping the ball down while also being in the strike zone makes Affeldt a very good pitcher. He has nasty stuff with a heavy sinking two seam fastball that induces swings and misses and ground balls.

I am optimistic that Affeldt can be a reliable option going into the future.

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