Week 11: Jacob Faria

Last week, I chose the hottest rookie at the plate as my MLBoyfriend. It only seemed fair that this week I pick the rookie who is tearing it up on the mound. Jacob Faria has been the starting pitcher in just three major league games and has has notched up three wins--two of them in the last week.

To say Faria is a "rookie" is a bit of an understatement. This isn't his first year in the majors, it's his first month. We're not even through the month, and it has already been a very eventful one for Faria. On June 1st, he was still the ace for the Durham Bulls and pitched a humdinger of a game for them.

On June 5th, the Bulls manager informed Faria he should pack his bag because he would be starting the next night in Tampa Bay against the Chicago White Sox. It was supposed to be a one-and-done start to fill in for Rays' starter Matt Andriese who was on the 10-day disabled list. Despite pitching an impressive game in his major league debut--he went 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and just three hits and one earned run scoring a win and a quality start--he was, as planned, sent back down to Durham. Then, on June 12th, Andriese was put back on the DL and Faria was called back up to start the next day.

This brings us to last week. Faria's first start of the week was on Tuesday, June 13th, in Toronto. He threw another strong 6.1 innings with eight strikeouts, six hits and one earned run. He was now two-for-two in wins and quality starts. The Rays wisely decided not to send him back down and made him a permanent part of the rotation after his second game.

On Sunday, June 18th, Faria made that three-for-three in Detroit. He pitched 7.0 innings against the Tigers giving up just one earned run again with six hits and nine strikeouts.

So... Jacob Faria's MLB stats for June, 2017 and his career are all the same: 3 wins; 0 loses; 22 strikeouts; 0.97(!) WHIP; and 1.37(!!) ERA. 

I join with the Tampa Bay Rays in welcoming Jacob Fraria to the major leagues and and name him my MLBoyfriend of the week. Congratulations, Jacob, you earned it!

One final note: Faria's pitching prowess earned him the MLBoyfriend title, but he has another trait that made putting this post together a lot easier. It's usually hard to get good pictures of most pitchers actually pitching. No matter how handsome they are off the mound, the manage to really screw their faces up while throwing. Jacob Faria, however, is the exception to the rule, and for that, I thank him.