THIS IS A GUEST ROCKPILE BY MARIO DELGADO (@DeGenZGZ)
Kyle Freeland has been through quite the rollercoaster ride for a first round pick. After a very solid 2017 debut (which included a near no-hitter), the Denver native blew everyone’s expectations out of the water in 2018, putting up arguably the best season any starting pitcher has ever had wearing purple pinstripes. Freeland went 17-7 with a sterling 2.85 ERA across 202 u2153 innings, finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting, and put the icing on the cake with 6 u2154 innings of scoreless ball in that memorable Wild Card Game against the Cubs, on three days’ rest no less.