Luinder's Best Start Yet

Luinder Avila put another one in the column that he could be a long-term answer in the Royals rotation.

The Royals need Luinder Avila to start, so I had no issue with him going every fifth day for the rest of the season. I didn’t have high hopes, but, as I’ve said so many times, lost seasons can still have value if you learn what you have. I am in no way sold on Avila as a starting pitcher long-term, but there are plenty of data points to suggest that I might be wrong. He had his best start yet against a Giants lineup that isn’t necessarily bad, but it certainly isn’t good. Still, there were a lot of things in last night’s 3-2 win that were eye-opening from the young righty.

The actual box score tells a pretty solid story of his evening. He went a career-high 6.1 innings and allowed just five hits while walking only one and striking out a career-high seven batters. He needed just 87 pitches, and even that would have been lower if not for a silly throwing error in the top of the fifth that forced him to throw an additional six pitches to get out of that inning. After allowing the first two to reach base in the first inning, he was pretty much in control, literally and figuratively. The literal part is what made me think it might be clicking for him.