Why not just admit you don't fully know what kind of hitter he will be.
I expect he'll outperform his projections which mark him as average. His K and BB rates look pretty stable but the power numbers are inflated even after this slump.
Yeah. He's not a true ace, but he's playing the part this year. People are getting hung up over the word ace.
The point is most of the teams have that blockbuster guy, only a few don't.
Teams in the AL with an "ace":
Mariners - Hernandez
White Sox - Sale
Indians - Kluber
Tigers - Price
Yankees - Pineda / Tanaka (DL)
Angels - Richards
Astros - Keuchel
Athletics - Kazmir / Gray (sort of)
Orioles - Jimenez
Rangers - Darvish (DL)
Rays - Archer
Teams in the AL without an "ace":
Blue Jays
Twins
Red Sox
Royals
I heard some gibberish about him deciding to throw a "slower" KB at the start of the season... and that he was going to walk less guys and throw more strikes... as a result he now has the highest BB rate of his career as a knuckleballer. It seems he should be doing the opposite (not that it's possible anymore) but his lower BB rates correlate with his faster KB.
More importantly, his KB top velocity... he's lost 3 mph on it since his days with the Mets. Things aren't going to get any better, likely they'll get worse.