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Earlier in the season I sad that if Correia's season ERA ended up lower than 4.50, I'd eat some serious crow. With every outing in which he doesn't completely implode he's making that more likely. Maybe there's some revisionist history where I said "an ERA of 5.00" instead of 4.50? Probably not. Oh well. I'm happy to be wrong in cases like this.
After a few different rough stretches, Correia has allowed a combined two earned runs in his last two starts and six earned runs in his last four starts. That's nothing short of outstanding. He does it by changing speeds and inducing weak contact. He'll have to do it again today against a tough set of Rangers hitters, although when Texas saw him earlier this year they couldn't scratch across a run in eight innings. On the plus side, most Rangers batters haven't seen him more than a few times, and only two players have stepped him against him for 10 or more at-bats.
Against right-handed hitters, Correia is willing to throw the fastball almost anywhere - fine when he's hitting his spots, and batting practice when he's not. With the cutter and the curve he tries to stay away a bit more, while the changeup does a pretty good job of staying at the knees when it's not getting crushed. Against lefties the fastball works away pretty exclusively, using the cutter to try and get on the handle of the bat. The breaking ball can at times float over the middle a bit too much but, like the changup, Correia does try to stay on the outer third with it.
Acquired by the Rangers on August 14, Blackley has now played for both Texas teams this season and eight teams overall since his 2004 debut with the Mariners. Going into 2004, Baseball America rated him as the game's #63 prospect, but missing the whole of 2005 and then working himself back into the game's good graces was hard work. After '04, he made two appearances for San Francisco in '07, and that was the last the Majors saw of him until 2012. He was back with the Giants by then, after minor league pit stops in Philadelphia, Arizona, Oakland, and New York (the Mets). Blackley then went back to Oakland, again, before winding up in Houston.
It's been a long, hard road. And he's been rewarded for her persistence with a few starts for the Rangers down the stretch.
Blackley throws a fastball around 90mph that can sometimes run a bit, and pairs it with a pretty good mid to upper-80s slider that he likes to throw often. He also offers a curve and a changeup.