Chicago Cubs' Randy Wells in Sophomore Slump

      ( Originally posted on IvyReport.com )

There really is no way to sugar-coat it.

Randy Wells has pitched like absolute garbage over his last eight starts and is on his way to a plainly pathetic sophomore season in the majors. The guy is the not-so-proud owner of a 5.15 ERA on the year.

As some fans know, Wells came from out of the blue to have a startling rookie campaign, which saw him post a 3.10 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Many were skeptical that he could repeat his success, because he was a 27-year-old who had been a sub-par minor league pitcher virtually his entire career

Looks like the doubters had him pegged.

In these last eight starts, Wells has posted an ugly 6.56 ERA and took the loss in five of the appearances.

As has been mentioned ad nauseum, his greatest struggles are at the beginning of games. In his first 15 pitches of his starts, opponents are crushing him to the tune of a .365 batting average and an .865 OPS.

Yikes, to say the least.

And a mighty fall from grace for sure. Some fans saw Wells as a Mark Buerhle-type who could be counted on to be a No. 2 starter in Chicago's rotation.

And while Lou and Larry Rothschild have been working hard to help Wells find the  success he had last season, it has apparently been to no avail.

When it comes down to it, Wells looks more and more like a one-year wonder, rather than a guy you can count on to be anything more than a back-end rotation guy.

As much as I personally like him, if he continues to get blasted by major leaguers, he won't have his rotation spot much longer.