![It was announced on Friday (May 24) that Michael Wacha would be heading to the bullpen. - [Ted Engler / Flickr]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2019/5/25/660x290/b_502x220x82/it-was-announced-on-friday-that-michael-wacha-would-be-headed-to-the-bullpen-image-source-flickr-ted-engler_2269499.jpg "It was announced on Friday (May 24) that Michael Wacha would be heading to the bullpen. - [Ted Engler / Flickr]")
Sometimes, in spite of past success from starting pitchers, teams can no longer be patient in waiting for them to reach last heights.
That was the case for the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals. On Friday (May 24), it was announced that Dan Straily (Orioles) and Michael Wacha (Cardinals) would be moved to the bullpen. I also want to share who I feel are 10 surprising players this season.
According to an older report by MLB Trade Rumors, it was not known who would step into the rotation for their respective teams.
Straily's miserable beginning to the season
According to Keith Hernandez of Roto Baller, Dan Straily has been the least effective starter in baseball this season.
His early numbers seem to back up that sentiment. After pitching 1 1/3 innings in his first appearance with the Orioles out of the bullpen, he has since made eight starts. The 30-year-old owns a 1-4 record and has pitched to the tune of a 9.09 ERA and 1.99 WHIP. The right-hander has allowed an unsightly 14 home runs in just 34 2/3 innings.
In his first eight starts, Straily has not gone more than five innings in an appearance. While he wasn't very good in April, he has been even worse in May. In four starts this month, he has a ghastly 11.81 ERA and has allowed opposing hitters to look like vintage Barry Bonds as they have a 1.270 OPS this month against Straily.
His last start, on May 22, saw him give up four homers in four innings against the New York Yankees.
Starting his big league career in 2012, Straily's best season came in 2016 while with the Cincinnati Reds. In 34 games (31 starts), he went 14-8 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts in 191 1/3 innings.
Straily went 5-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 23 starts with the Miami Marlins in 2018.
Wacha's subpar start sends him to the bullpen
It wasn't too long ago that Michael Wacha was named an All-Star in the National League (2015). Just 24 years old at the time, he looked like he would be a stalwart in the Cardinals rotation for quite some time. In his All-Star season, he went 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 30 starts.
After a disappointing 2015 and fairly-average 2016 season for Wacha, he seemed to get back on track last year.
In 15 starts, he ended the 2018 season with an 8-2 record and 3.20 ERA.
Now turning 28 years old on July 1, Wacha has seen a regression in all of his numbers to begin 2019. He has nearly doubled his walk rate. In nine starts, he is 3-2 with a 5.59 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings. He has allowed nine homers, which is the same amount he allowed all of last year in 84 1/3 innings.
Wacha's last start came on May 22, and it was not a good performance for him against a well below-average Kansas City Royals team. He went 4 2/3 innings and gave up seven runs (six earned).
