Three AL pitchers set to turn their season around

Every slow start to a season is not the same. Due to a small sample size, one or two bad outings can drastically skew statistics in the wrong direction. Ground balls can find holes in the infield, or soft fly balls can land for hits. Here are three pitchers who should be able to turn around their 2025 performance.

Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins

After establishing himself as a weapon in the Twins' bullpen, Jax has uncharacteristically struggled to begin this season. He has posted a 6.92 ERA and a 1.538 WHIP in his 13 innings entering Friday.

Three bad outings skew that performance. Jax allowed nine earned runs on nine hits and two walks over 2.1 innings, leading to a .468 batting average on balls in play against. However, his 2.21 FIP is tied for 20th among American League pitchers with at least 10 innings this season. Jax has struck out 23 batters with just three walks, showing that he is still dominant. It is just a matter of time before the numbers reflect his metrics.

Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland Guardians

Clase had been the gold standard of closers over the previous three years. He led the majors with 133 saves between 2022 and 2024, posting a 1.72 ERA and a 0.847 WHIP over his 219.2 innings — the second-largest workload of any reliever in that time frame.

It is fair to look at Clase's performance as a result of that usage catching up to him. He has posted a 6.75 ERA and a 1.950 WHIP in his 13.1 innings thus far, allowing 23 hits on a .489 batting average on balls in play against. Clase has maintained his velocity from previous years while throwing strikes, issuing just three walks while striking out 14 batters. His 2.84 FIP indicates that better days are coming.

Luis Ortiz, Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians felt they had a potential bargain when they acquired Ortiz as part of the return from the Pirates for infielder Spencer Horwitz. He had displayed flashes of brilliance and had finally appeared to have harnessed his potential in 2024, posting a 3.32 ERA and a 1.113 WHIP over his 135.2 innings.

This season has been a step backward statistically as Ortiz entered Friday with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.406 WHIP over his 32 innings. Although his walk rate has risen to 4.5 walks per nine innings, Ortiz is also striking out a career-best 10.1 batters per nine. In this case, Ortiz is being let down by his defense as he has a 47.7% ground-ball rate and a 3.94 FIP on the season.