RADIO
Brendan McKay 2020 Outlook: Advanced Pitcher and Ace-in-the-Making
5 years agoSouthpaw Brendan McKay enters the 2020 season with the distinction of being the top rookie pitcher in the game for redraft leagues. He just missed losing his rookie status by one innings after throwing 49 innings for the Rays in 2019. With 53 hits allowed, he gave up too many hits but walked just 16 batters. What this tells us is that McKay has very good control but struggles with his command at times leading to too many hittable pitches. And as a fly-ball pitcher, he’s at risk of getting hurt by the long-ball if the juiced ball rears its ugly head again in 2020. If he can make an adjustment this year, he will take his game to the next level and he should be good for about 160-170 innings. With four pitches that have the potential to be above-average offerings, he has the ingredients to be a top-of-the-rotation arm with a very good chance to best his 26% strikeout rate from 2019. McKay will likely open the year as the Rays’ No. 4 starter but he could quickly move up the ranks as he focuses more on his pitching and less on his hitting after giving up the hope of being a two-way player.
