What Andrew Cashner Brings To the Table
The Baltimore Orioles have made their biggest signing of this off-season by signing Andrew Cashner. Most Orioles fans have mixed reactions to the signing, but at least he is better than nothing.
Cashner is not a great pitcher by any means, but he is a cheap low risk high reward option. He is a step in the right direction, and if the Orioles can get one or two more quality starters they have a chance to contend in the American League East again. Ultimately he is an improvement on the rotation, granted that does not take to much.
Roch Kubatko reports that Cashner “will receive five million this summer and eight million in 2019, with the other three million deferred from 2020-2022. The option vests at 340 innings and becomes a player option at 360 innings.”
The five million still leaves plenty of room for the Orioles to make one or two more much needed additions to the rotation and stay around where their payroll was last year.
I really like this contract because if Cashner performs well and the team does not, the team will have an easier time trading him at the deadline or in 2019. On the other hand if he performs well, they have him on a cheap contract for two possibly three years.
Cashner is coming off a solid season with the Texas Rangers. In his first season in the American League, Cashner had a record of 11-11 and carried a 3.40 ERA in 28 starts and 166.2 innings pitched.
Cashner is a pitcher who pitches to contact. He averages 69% (nice) batters faced putting the ball in play, and had a career high 75% last season. The bright spot is for his career only 30.7 % of balls put in play are in the air and he was right around that number last year at 32.2%.
The biggest knock on Cashner is his K/9 number which dropped sharply from 7.6 in 2016 to 4.6 in 2017. If it is any consolation, he also dropped his BB/9 from 4.1 to 3.5.
Cashner made at least one start against each team in the American League East last season, pitching in every park but Yankee Stadium. Here is how he did against each team.
| Split | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | HBP | WP | BF | WHIP | SO9 | SO/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 1 | 2.63 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13.2 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 1.098 | 4.6 | 1.75 |
| Boston Red Sox | 1 | 1 | 3.75 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 51 | 1.333 | 4.5 | 0.86 |
| New York Yankees | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0.714 | 5.1 | 4.00 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1.167 | 6.0 | 1.33 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 1 | 0 | 1.29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1.000 | 2.6 | 1.00 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
| Date | Opp | Rslt | Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | BF | Pit | GSc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23 | @ | BOS | L,6-11 | L(1-4) | 5.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 90 | 33 |
| May 28 | @ | TOR | W,3-1 | W(2-4) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 97 | 63 |
| Jul 5 | BOS | W,8-2 | W(4-7) | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 27 | 110 | 68 | |
| Jul 17 | @ | BAL | L,1-3 | L(4-8) | 6.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 95 | 51 |
| Jul 22 | @ | TBR | W,4-3 | W(5-8) | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 94 | 53 |
| Jul 28 | BAL | W,8-2 | W(6-8) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 102 | 65 | |
| Sep 9 | NYY | L,1-3 | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 99 | 68 |
