Just a few weeks ago, there were serious questions about whether or not Cliff Lee was worth the big contract that he signed with the Phillies last winter. Although the left-handed ace had only given up more than three runs in four of his first 12 starts, he hadn’t been performing at the dominating level that made the city of Philadelphia fall in love with him during his first stint with the team in 2009.
In baseball, every player is going to have their ups and downs, and Lee is no different. He didn’t come out of the gates on fire, and that led to some people questioning if he was truly an elite pitcher.
Now, Lee has silenced all of his doubters. In his last four starts, the 2008 Cy Young-award winner has found his groove, and returned to his dominate form.
Lee pitched his second consecutive shutout on Wednesday night in St. Louis. He began the game by throwing seven straight balls, but quickly settled down. He finished the game by scattering six hits, walking only one batter, and striking out three batters.
This was the second straight game that Lee had struck out less than five batters. He hasn’t been happy about becoming a strikeout pitcher because it makes his pitch count higher, and doesn’t allow him to go as deep into games as he would like to. In the last two games, he’s struck out a combined seven batters, while pitching to contact a little more. The results have been two of his best efforts of the season.
Lee is now 4-0 in June with an ERA of 0.27. He has allowed just one run in his last 33 innings, and has dropped his ERA for the season to 2.87, on par with the numbers of Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. He’s looking more and more like the elite pitcher that fans were sorry to see traded to Seattle after the 2009 season.
Dude is a stud. F^@#ING offense cost him 4 or 5 more wins with not scoring him any runs. 4 games in row 0 runs. Pathetic. Thank god they have this staff, because they would be in 3rd or 4th place.
Thats right DDCar, because before they had this staff…they were in 3rd or 4th place….wait no, no they weren’t.
Dd car mr glass half empty
3rd or 4th???????? HAHAHA
The other teams are on scholarship too.Enough about the offense already.We have All-stars and other fans are jelly of our squad. Shssshhhhhhh….the box cutter went click click.
DD again.
Last 4 games
4-0
3-0
7-1
3-1
Average over 4 runs per game.
I looked at the 4-5 games that they have cost him and two of those games the Phils still won. And on 5/26, he gave up 4 runs, but got a win 10-4.
Still don’t see why you are complaining so much. Have you seen the Phils record? Enjoy it.