Brewers Sign Jhoulys Chacin

Jhoulys Chacin: 13-10, 3.89 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 153/72 K/BB, 180.1 IP

They don't get talked about a lot, but the Brewers are a good team with a chance to contend with the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL Central, and adding Jhoulys Chacin is a big step in the right direction. They already lost staff leader Jimmy Nelson (12-6, 3.49 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) for a portion of the 2018 season, but Chacin joins a rotation that does include Zach Davies (17-9, 3.90, 1.35) and Chase Anderson (12-4, 2.74, 1.09) at the front end, and Chacin is no slouch himself. The 29 year old had a big year in 2017, going 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 32 starts for the Padres, and he should fit right in to the middle of the Milwaukee rotation. Chacin's slider is one of the best in baseball, posting the second highest "slider value" (according to Fangraphs) in baseball, behind only Max Scherzer. However, there is one split that catches my attention. In 16 home starts in San Diego's pitcher-friendly PETCO Park, Chacin went 9-3 with a 1.79 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, but in 16 road starts, he went 4-7 with a 6.53 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. That's the difference between the best home ERA in all of baseball and the worst road ERA in all of baseball (min 80 innings for both), which is a bit troubling. However, looking further back, he had a 3.52 ERA at home and a 5.85 ERA on the road in 2016. Extending it out over his career, which includes six seasons pitching in pitchers' hell Coors Field, he still has a much lower home ERA (3.65) than road (4.27), so it may be a case of him just really liking to pitch in familiar environments. Chacin is an interesting pitcher, and the Brewers got a fair deal on him at $15 million. For his career, the Venezuela native is 59-67 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 195 games (167 starts) for the Rockies, Diamondbacks, Braves, Angels, and Padres.