Andrew Cashner: 11-11, 3.40 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 86/64 K/BB, 166.2 IP
Two years, $16 million, $10 million vesting player option for 2020 for 340 total innings pitched
Starting pitching has been a nightmare recently for the Orioles. Last season, their starters finished with a 5.70 ERA, the worst in all of baseball, and many of those starters aren't even returning. Gone are Ubaldo Jimenez, Jeremy Hellickson, Chris Tillman, and Wade Miley, leaving only Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy as returners with established starting experience. This is where Andrew Cashner, an eight year veteran with an inconsistent track record, comes in. He has certainly had his ups; from 2013-2014, he went 15-16 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP over 50 games (45 starts) for the Padres. However, there have also been lows; between the Padres and Marlins in 2016, he went 5-11 with a 5.25 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP over 28 games (27 starts). 2017 was somewhat of a middle ground, as his 3.40 ERA was nice to look at, but he was helped by a .267 BABIP and that 86/64 strikeout to walk ratio in 166.2 innings was just a bit frightening. His tumbling strikeout rate, which has dropped from 20.5% in 2015 to 19.1% in 2016 to 12.2% in 2017, is likely a sign that Cashner isn't due for a long term deal, but he does a good-enough job of keeping the ball on the ground so he should be able to handle Camden Yards. Either way, he's a huge help to a rotation that looks to be headed by Kevin Gausman (11-12, 4.68 ERA) and Dylan Bundy (13-9, 4.24 ERA), with the final two spots to be made up of some combination of Gabriel Ynoa, Alec Asher, Miguel Castro, and possibly Mike Wright or Nestor Cortes, none of whom have spent even half a season starting in the major leagues. Hunter Harvey's eventual arrival can't come soon enough for Orioles fans. For his career, Cashner, a former TCU Horned Frog, is 42-64 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP over 230 games (137 appearances).
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