Houston — Numbers don’t necessarily lie, but they can misdirect you from the truth sometimes.
The metrics from Tarik Skubal’s last start against the Indians were somewhat alarming, as was his performance. The average velocity on his fastball, which stayed in the 95-96 mph range last year and through spring training dropped to 93.5 and the velocity range expanded from 91-95 mph.
On top of that, the spin rates were down on his fastball, curve and slider.
All of which prompted Skubal, after giving up three homers and six runs in four innings, to say, “That’s not who I am.