The Chicago White Sox had no business winning on Tuesday night in Seattle. The offense mustered just two hits through eight innings, and starter Anthony Kay needed 35 pitches just to make it out of the first inning.
But despite entering the ninth inning with a 16.5% win probability, the scrappy White Sox prevailed. Munetaka Murakami drew a leadoff walk, a pitch hit Miguel Vargas, and two batters later, Chase Meidroth tied the game with a softly hit single through the right side that carried an expected batting average of just .080.
But none of that would have been possible without the efforts of the pitching staff, specifically Anthony Kay, whose resilient performance kept the White Sox in the game.
Things got off to a rocky start for Kay in the first inning. After retiring the leadoff hitter, he allowed a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. But to his credit, he settled in and limited the damage. Kay induced a force out from Patrick Wisdom and, despite issuing another walk to reload the bases, escaped the jam by blowing a 95 mph fastball past Mitch Garver for a strikeout to keep the deficit at 1-0.
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After issuing another leadoff walk in the second inning, Kay settled in and retired the next nine batters he faced, ultimately setting down 15 of the final 17 hitters he saw. That included striking out two of the last four batters he faced before exiting in the sixth inning.
Kay finished the night allowing just one run on one hit over 5.1 innings, while striking out five, walking three, and hitting two batters.
Kay is going to need to limit the number of free passes he is issuing, but the fact that he was able to work into the sixth inning against a tough Seattle Mariners offense helped save the bullpen in what was shaping up to be an ugly outing.
There were plenty of unknowns surrounding Kay when he signed a two-year deal with the White Sox after spending the previous two seasons putting up impressive numbers in Japan.
But much like his outing Tuesday night in Seattle, after a rocky start, Kay appears to be settling in and emerging as a reliable arm as the season progresses. He entered May with a 6.12 ERA, but in his last four starts, he has managed to lower that to 4.27, which is remarkable when you consider his 1.45 WHIP and 10.4% walk rate.
Since April 27, Kay has logged 21.1 innings, allowing just five earned runs while striking out 19 batters and posting a 2.11 ERA. While the walks remain a concern, Kay has started to generate far more swings and misses. He has now pitched at least five innings in each of his last four starts, recording five strikeouts in three of those outings.
Part of the turnaround could be due to the White Sox pumping the brakes on their opener strategy. It’s a strategy that Kay said made it difficult for him to settle into a normal starter’s routine earlier in the season. As a result, he has seen his opponents’ chase rate rise to over 30 percent, placing him in the top half of MLB pitchers.
Kay is still a long way from being viewed as a top-of-the-rotation arm, but he appears to be finding a rhythm and has become a serviceable option at the back end of the rotation, something the White Sox will need if they hope to remain in the playoff race into August.
