The Triumphant Return of Kyle Lohse

Kyle Lohse had to wait until almost the end of spring training to get signed by anyone. There weren't any restrictions in place for him, it's just that no one wanted to pay him the "Gil Meche money" he was seeking.

Right now any teams that were courting him probably aren't overly disappointed with their decision. That's not to say that some of them shouldn't be.


In 16 starts (94.1 innings) Lohse is 9-2, with a respectable 3.63 ERA. He's actually been St. Louis' 2nd best starter behind converted reliever Adam Wainright. But when you look just underneath the surface, Lohse isn't exactly a world-beater. His .277 BAbip isn't amazing, but it's still about 30 points lower than his career average (and this is a 29 year old). The strikeout rate has absolutely fallen off the table as he's down to little more than 4 K/9 (career 5.6 K/9). Having said that, he's helping himself out with only 2.3 BB/9 (down from 2.8 for his career). Staying away from the longball has also been quite a help. His HR rate is down from a little over 1 per 9 to a thin .6 HR/9.

Over his last 7 starts, Lohse has been nothing short of phenomenal only allowing 10 earned runs over that span. The more shocking thing is that he's only walked SEVEN in those starts as a whole. The good news for Tigers fans is that there were only 20 Ks in those seven games, so the ball will be around the plate (though that hasn't been good news for the 2008 Tigers for the most part).

With all of that positive must come a negative, right? Yes, it really does. Kyle Lohse has had a horrendous career against the Detroit Tigers. In a little over 100 IP, he sports an OPS against of .849 and an atrocious 5.74 ERA. In those innings he's allowed 17 HR and struggled to a 7-6 record against the boys from Detroit. The decent news for him is that half of his innings against the Tigers have come in Comerica (where the game is played tonight), and his stats are a tad bit more respectable there. The ERA drops a little over a full point, and only 6 of those 17 HRs came in Detroit.


Triumphant or not, Kyle Lohse returns tonight!