Reconsidering Kevin Correia

Kevin Correia has topped 173 innings this season,
the second highest total of his career.

I was not particularly happy last winter when the Twins gave Kevin Correia a two-year contract. I complained about it here and here at the time.

As the first season of that deal winds down, I have to admit that Correia has been better than I expected — a 4.31 ERA, about a run lower than I expected him to put up in his first season in the DH league. He built that ERA in part on his highest strikeout rate since 2010 and the lowest walk rate of his career. And he hasn't missed a start to date.

Correia leads the 2013 Twins in wins, starts, innings and strikeouts. (Also in losses, hits allowed and home runs allowed.) He will be their only pitcher to qualify for the ERA title.

Sam Deduno and Andrew Albers were better on a per-inning basis, but they didn't match Correia's workload combined.

The Twins got what they were after from Correia. But it's hardly a secret that a team with him as their top starter is a team with pitching trouble. And the Twins remain a team with pitching trouble.