This is what our friends over at “Fire Brand of the American League” are wondering aloud …

A lot of good points in here, and I do think Masterson could certainly be plopped into the middle of the rotation and do just fine. The bullpen, however, suits him better in an ideal world. His velocity was up a few ticks when coming out of the pen and the room for error when it comes to getting lefties out is smaller. Regardless of where he ends up, I believe one of the greatest traits that Masterson possesses is his maturity and approach. As John Farrell said, he not only soaks in advice, but then has the ability to actually go out and make it translate into game situations. Gold Jerry, gold!

Best part: I’m going to get me some ‘xFIP’ for Christmas …

His xFIP, (a pitcher’s ERA that is both normalized and includes only things a pitcher is directly responsible for) however, was almost a full run higher at 4.28. As a No. 5 starter, a 4.28 xFIP would be rather impressive, but can he be counted on to maintain that?

I thank author Evan for explaining this, because it is good info that could escape some who would automatically say, “You lost me at ‘x’”

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