Pair of former A’s finally finding groove for D-backs
Sep 17, 2013, 6:01 AM | Updated: 6:02 am
With the exception of Heath Bell and the departed Ian Kennedy, no one in the Arizona Diamondbacks clubhouse has drawn more criticism this season than a pair of former Oakland A’s pitchers — Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy.
Slated as the team’s No. 2 and 3 starters at the season’s outset, Cahill and McCarthy each hit rough patches midway through the season and both landed on the disabled list.
Cahill was solid through the first two months of the season, boasting a 2.87 ERA as the Diamondbacks headed for June — the month he imploded. In six June starts, the right-hander went 0-5 with a 9.85 ERA. He was placed on the disabled list at month’s end with a hip injury.
McCarthy, meanwhile, struggled from the get-go. In April, the offseason free agent acquisition went 0-3 with a 7.48 ERA. And though he seemed to regain control in May, going 2-1 with a 3.23 ERA, he suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the month, which landed him on the disabled list for all of June and July and part of August.
Both returned from the disabled list in August and, after a few innings of reacclimation, they’ve seemingly found the form the Diamondbacks hoped they’d have at the beginning of the season.
In his last six games — five starts and an extra innings relief appearance — Cahill has a 2.14 ERA over 33.2 innings. Though he continues to struggle with walks, giving up 20 while striking out just 21 in that span, he continues to show deftness with damage control.
Cahill beat the Dodgers 2-1 Monday at Chase Field.
And McCarthy has a 2.10 ERA over his last four starts, spanning 30.0 innings. The 30-year-old has a 15:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio during the stretch, dating back to August 26.
