Getting to Know....Fausto Carmona

Does anyone remember Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona from last year? He completely dominated the stat sheet…well, at least the losing column. After winning his first game, Carmona lost his next ten decisions. Out of the 7 games he started, Carmona was 1-4 with a 6.08 ERA. While being shuffled from starter to reliever and back to starter again may have affected his performance, Carmona was nevertheless terrible. Overall in 2006, Carmona looked like this:

W-L: 1-10
ERA: 5.42
WHIP: 1.59

After last season, Cleveland declared the “Carmona reliever/closer” experiment a failure, and has used him this season exclusively as a starter. The turnaround has been completely shocking and…well, the stats speak for themselves:

W-L: 5-1
ERA: 2.77
WHIP: 1.19
QS%: .88

What’s more unbelievable is that Carmona has been so successful while being shuffled back and forth between Cleveland and AAA Buffalo, as various pitchers have come back from the DL. Carmona’s recent success ought to secure him a place in the rotation, especially with Jeremy Sowers struggling (0-4, 7.13 ERA).