2012 Community Projections Results: Colby Lewis

Colby Lewis is a weird pitcher. In the playoffs, he's 4-1 in 8 starts with a 2.34 ERA. Those October performance stick out in the minds of many Rangers fans as the identity of Colby Lewis, a warrior and the guy who should be at the top of a young rotation as the veteran leader you can count on. However leading up to the 2011 playoffs, Colby was a frequent victim of getting shelled, leading the AL in home runs allowed and causing the Rangers coaches to schedule him to start games on the road in the playoffs rather than risk having him pitch in the offense friendly Ballpark in Arlington. A lingering hip issue that was rarely discussed in the media raised even more doubts about what his 2012 campaign might deliver.

Colby gave a very strong performance in the first half of 2012, deciding that he just wasn't going to walk anyone anymore if that was alright with anyone. He made 16 starts and walked 1 or fewer in all but 3 of them. His home run problems were fairly controlled with the exception of one crazy game in Baltimore where he gave up 5 total home runs, including to the first three batters, but also struck out 12 guys in 7 innings. With strikeouts up a bit he allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 12 of his 16 starts.

Unfortunately, Colby's season was cut short by a damaged elbow tendon that required surgery and will have him out until the second half of 2013. But when he did pitch, he was better than most people projected.

Congratulations to I am Neftali Feliz for having the lowest score* with his projection. Here is a spreadsheet with how everyone did.

*Score is the average number of standard deviations away from the actual 2012 value