Yeah that's going to be tough to sustain - it was a career best from him and I don't think we have seen a SP maintain a BB/9 below 1 for multiple years in a row (well off the top of my head I can't think of anybody). Like BTS said, Hughes likely goes back to being in the 1.5 range. Unbelievable season he had though!
Edit: Cliff Lee had a 0.79 BB/9 in 2010, though never again had a season in which he was below 1 BB/9 again. Carlos Silva in 2005 had a 0.43 BB/9 back with the Twins lol.
And Jon Lieber and David Wells were both at 0.92 BB/9 in 2004. Also, Wells in 2003 was 0.85 BB/9 so he had back-to-back seasons with a BB/9 below 1.
He's always had decent BB rates (2.16 BB/9 in 2012). Just this season he literally walked almost nobody. Do you think he can sustain something similar 0.69 BB/9 moving forward?
Not really - the A's have a lot of starting pitching depth after all the trades they've made still. I'd say Chavez is back in the rotation come Opening Day since Griffin or Parker might not be ready. Though he's definitely expendable and it's not like the A's don't have any arms. Also, I'm sure the A's sign a veteran SP like how they did with Colon and Kazmir over the past couple of seasons.
Gray
Kazmir
Hahn
Chavez
Griffin
Parker
Bassitt
Pomeranz
Nolin
Graveman
LW Matt Beleskey
15G - 3A - +/- 11 - 84 SOG - 80 Hits - 18 Blks (ranked 75th on Yahoo)
Picked up on waivers near the beginning of the season - not bad.
Who saw this kind of offseason from San Diego happening? I'm not a fan of all the moves they've made, though its nice to see the Padres making splashes and headlines.
Glad he's gone. I don't mind rolling the dice with him as a No. 5 starter with additional depth behind him, though it was frustrating how the Jays were relying on Morrow to a top arm in their rotation.
Rios was worth 3.1 WAR in 2013 and 4.2 WAR in 2012. I don't think he's as bad as his 2014 season again - I'd rather take a chance on Rios with a one year deal vs. Melky on that 3 year deal he signed with the White Sox.
The DBacks have made stupid trades over the last two years. AA has been a true ninja this offseason, so if this is like the AA who went out and got guys like Morrow, Rasmus, Escobar when they were undervalued, then Delgado fits the bill.