There’s a pitcher whose team is 0-15 in games he’s started, and he’s 0-11 in games he’s started. Yet he’s never left the starting rotation, and when he does, he usually makes it to the sixth inning. This is the story of Jordan Lyles, 32, a right-handed starter for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB).스포츠토토
Liles pitched six innings of three-run ball in a road game against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit today (the 20th), but his team lost 4-6.
He held them to one run through the sixth inning, but he was back on the mound in the seventh and was pulled after giving up back-to-back hits, and the damage was done when the subsequent pitcher allowed a runner to score with the bases loaded.
That made it 15 starts for Riles this season, and Kansas City would go on to lose all 15. It’s the first time since the live ball era began in 1920 that a team has lost 15 consecutive games started by a particular pitcher since the start of the season.
Unsurprisingly, Liles hasn’t fared well. He’s 0-11 with an ERA of 6.72.
And yet, he’s managed to stay in the starting rotation. He’s logged 85.2 innings so far. That’s in the top 20 in the league in innings pitched.
The reason this is happening is because of Liles’ salary: He signed a two-year, $17 million deal before the season, so he’s going to have to use it if he doesn’t want to dump it.
The theory is that Kansas City has been in a rebuilding mode for a few years now, so they don’t have much to play for this year, so they’re letting Liles earn his salary by pitching innings.
It’s one thing to pitch long innings and not get injured; in fact, he’s pitched around 180 innings for two straight years until last year.
Already one of the worst pitchers in history, there’s already a lot of interest in his next start to see if he can break the ignominious record.