Kyle Farnsworth has been a fireballing reliever for a long time, not an easy thing to do. Yet after 12 major league seasons, nobody thought of him as anyone near a dependable pitcher. Why are things different now in his 13th season?
Farnsworth had some great years with the Cubs, but also some awful ones. (Bleacher Report)
After a couple of poor seasons as a starter and long reliever for the Cubs in 1999 and 2000, he had an incredible season in 2001, posting a 2.74 ERA, 24 holds, and 2 saves in 76 relief appearances, striking out 11.7 per 9 innings while walking just 3.2 per 9. But he followed that up by posting just a 7.33 ERA in 2002, walking 4.6 per 9 while posting just an 8.9 K/9. The craziness continued as he posted a 3.30 ERA, an 11.5 K/9, and 19 holds in 2003, but just a 4.73 ERA in 2004. Kyle Farnsworth proved himself to be another one of those middle relievers whose performance completely varies from year to year. But that drove the Cubs and all of baseball insane. This is a...
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