Michael

Wacha

As is typical, Wacha didn’t have a lot of whiffs in this one, with just a five percent swinging strike rate, but he made the most of the two-strike counts he got into and induced plenty of weak contact on the day. His changeup got tons of called strikes, and the veteran will now take a 2.63 ERA into an appealing matchup against the Cardinals next week

Wacha settled for three strikeouts in a game in which he got misses on just two of 39 swings, but aside from David Fry’s homer in the second, he mostly generated soft contract. His season BABIP is all of the way down to .231. He’s bettered the league average there in four straight seasons, but never by nearly this much. He’s 3-2 with a 3.05 ERA, and he’s scheduled to face the Tigers next time out.

Wacha probably wouldn’t have gotten through five if the A’s hadn’t made three outs on the basepaths and given away another on a sac bunt. That said, Wacha was really unfortunate to give up eight hits. He allowed just two hard-hit balls and three with xBAs over .500. This leaves him 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA with the Guardians next on the schedule.

Wacha gave up a two-run homer to Pete Alonso in the first but then kept the Orioles scoreless until the sixth, when the team erupted for six runs. Wacha was charged with four of those after a walk and three singles, but the big blow came after he departed and Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer off Eli Morgan. It’s Wacha’s first loss this season, as he’d allowed just three runs in four starts prior to today. He rates as a weak play next week in a road start in Sacramento.

It was another solid start for Wacha, whose two earned runs set a new high for him on the season. The veteran righty struck out five Yankees through 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball before a two-run homer by Ben Rice broke the scoreless tie. Wacha would stay locked in for the rest of the night and picked up the no-decision thanks to Vinnie Pasquantino tying the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning on a solo homer. Now sitting at 2-0 on the season with a 1.00 ERA, Wacha will look to pick up his third win in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday against the Orioles.

Wacha was outstanding on Saturday, spinning eight shutout frames against the White Sox. He scattered four hits and one walk while tossing 63 of 88 pitches for strikes and generated 15 whiffs to collect seven strikeouts. The 34-year-old right-hander ends the day with an excellent 0.43 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and a 17/5 K/BB ratio across 21 innings. Wacha will look to keep it going when he takes on the Yankees in New York on Friday.

The lone run came on a Steven Kwan homer. Rhys Hoskins also made a bid for one, but his fly to right in the second went just inches foul. Wacha settled for three strikeouts and six whiffs on the Guardians’ 41 swings, but only two of the Guardians balls in play in excess of 100 mph turned into hits. He’ll take a 0.69 ERA into a nice matchup against the White Sox on Monday.

The 34-year-old hurler is feeling a bit under the weather, so Luinder Avila will be recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start in his place on Friday night. The rest of the Royals’ rotation for the weekend remains unchanged, with Seth Lugo toeing the slab on Saturday and Kris Bubic getting the ball in their series finale on Sunday.

Wacha got 17 whiffs tonight, and his 37.5% CSW was a full 50% better than his 2025 mark of 24.9%. His strikeout rate took a hit last year, dropping from 22% in 2023 and 21% in 2024 to 18% in 2025. A rebound there would go a long way towards making him a viable mixed-league option this season. He’ll face the Brewers next week.

It had already been announced that Cole Ragans would pitch against the Braves in Atlanta on Opening Day. He’ll be followed by Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, with Noah Cameron rounding out the rotation and pitching on Wednesday against the Twins. It’s possible that Cameron could actually get pushed back to Thursday with Ragans working Wednesday on regular rest, but they may not want to push their ace so early in the season.