Kevin Correia Has Been Pretty Decent This Season

This article originally appeared on Friar Forecast

Kevin Correia has been very average this season.

Correia sports a 4.50 ERA, a 4.48 xFIP, a 4.03 FIP, and a 4.21 tRA.

He has struck out a bit more than six batters per nine innings, while walking a touch over three batters per nine innings.

His 91 mph fastball is solid, but in no way overwhelming.  He throws primarily fastballs, sliders, and curves, while tossing in a change-up once in a while.

Yup, in almost every way (results, peripherals, pitch speed, and pitch mix), Correia has been average.

And I could not be more thrilled.

Average production is valuable.  Fangraphs estimates Corriea has been worth 1.6 wins more than a replacement level pitcher.  That equates to $7.4 million in value.  Considering the Padres are paying Correia less than $1 million, I would guess the team has been quite pleased with its investment.

I have to be honest though.  I have not watched Correia pitch more than four or five times this season.  Like Chad Gaudin, Correia may be a pitcher better appreciated when taking a macro view, rather than analyzing his performance on a game-by-game basis.

On his blog, Websoulsurfer often posts quick “game-recap” type thoughts.  A search for “Correia” on his blog resulted in the following quotes/headlines:

“Kevin Correia was uninspiring again tonight” (8/28/09).

“Correia Gets Pounded” (8/22/09).

“Do [the Padres] have that much faith in Correia, a guy with a 5 ERA, to shut down the Reds until the Padres get another base runner” (7/29/09)?

“Correia Looking Like an Ace” (6/27/09).

“Correia Gets Pounded in Padres Loss-again” (6/1/09).

Of the five stories Websoul has written on Correia, only one of them was positive.  I realize there may be some bias since blogs in general have a tendency to be more negative than positive, but I do feel that Websoul’s thoughts are somewhat representative of the feelings many Padres fans have about Correia.  That is, while many fans realize the team could do far worse than Correia, there is still some frustration with his performance.

I hope that feeling changes.  I would never want a rotation full of average starters, but a team can certainly be a serious contender with Correia or any other average starter in its rotation.  After the season, Correia will once again be eligible for arbitration.  I would not mind seeing him back in San Diego.