John Gant: Statcast Darling

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsJohn Gant was a pleasant surprise in 2020...until he wasn’t. The right-hander’s 2.22 first half ERA was a huge boost to the bullpen as he was routinely able to pitch more than one inning, and do it well. Gant had a decent season in 2018 while operating out of the rotation and bullpen as he finished the year with a 3.47 ERA. However, his FIP (4.07) and xFIP (4.66) were not encouraging. Despite this, Gant broke out in the first hal of last season. However, after the all star break, Gant was not the same pitcher. His ERA skyrocketed to 6.65 and due to this, Shildt did not trust him as much. As a result he tossed just 21 2⁄3 innings after tallying 44 2⁄3 in the first half. However, whether it was fatigue or something else that caused this decline, it appears likely that Gant is still a solid bullpen arm, capable of returning to his first half success, or at least to the high-2/low-3 ERA range. This is because the 27-year-old has some elite spin rates that make his pitches tougher to hit.

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