Floyd looks to win more games than not in 2012, as he's just 4 games under .500 since his breakout season in '08
Ever since being selected 4th overall by the Phillies in the 2001 draft, Gavin Floyd has turned out to be a middle to back-end of the rotation guy, hovering around .500 with an ERA in the low 4.00’s. Solid? Certainly, but the 29-year old with a devestating curveball is obviously capable of more.
Some of those stats are skewed a bit because he is a notoriously slow starter, but for the most part he has been a streaky pitcher that can help you win a lot of games in stretches, but can also do the opposite for you at other times. This has been the story for Floyd in all seasons besides one: 2008. In ’08, Gavin went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA for the White Sox. These numbers do not only stand out from his stats in every other season, they blow them out of the water. So the question is: which Gavin Floyd will we see? The streaky, slow-starting Floyd that puts up solid-at-best numbers, or the dominant Floyd of ’08?
All indications point toward Floyd continuing his path of being a decent 3 or 4 pitcher. To be honest, I agree. I haven’t seen anything that tells me that this is the year for the tall right-hander. He’s been so consistent with his level of production for a while now, and I see that trend continuing. However, that does not mean I don’t think he can’t make strides in 2012. While I predict a stat line around 4.00 ERA, I think he can progress to an above .500 pitcher. So basically, I expect a similar year overall from Floyd, but more consistent from start-to-start. He’s now a bonafide veteran settling into the latter-half of his career. It’s time for him to stop aiming to strike every hitter out with a wicked breaking ball and start letting the hitters put the ball in play to get some quick outs.
Floyd is coming off of his worst season in a Chicago uniform, in which he carried a 4.37 ERA
Overall, I don’t expect a huge year from Floyd. I usually make pretty bold and positive predictions for Sox players, but to be honest in this case I expect most of the same. But keep in mind, that should be plenty for a White Sox team that wants to contend in 2012. A consistent pitcher that has the ability to shut out the opposing team on any given night is something that most teams wish they had in the middle of their rotation. So if the rest of the rotation can stay healthy and keep pressure off of Gavin Floyd, I expect a similar year to what we’ve seen, but more reliable numbers from start to finish from the Maryland native.