This guy has been underperforming for me.  I'd just like to get some input as to why?  Small sample size?  bad first pitch?  Ballpark?

His pitches are unimpressive but with his control and splits he is better than he has been this year. Just a string of bad luck, and a small sample size.

I would attribute it mostly to poor pitches.  This is where I think having a good PC catcher is most valuable.

He's actually not doing that bad. His FIP is 4.67. It's your defense that is playing poorly behind him.

This team has the best fielding percentage in the world, and also has the second lowest amount of minus plays, and sits in the middle of the pack for plus plays.  I would argue that this is one of the world's top three teams in terms of fielding.

He's giving up too many homers.   And hits. 

Posted by MikeT23 on 9/27/2010 10:50:00 AM (view original):
He's giving up too many homers.   And hits. 

Good analysis.  I think I'm aware of that.  What I'm asking is why?

My catchers have 66 and 58 in PC, so I don't think the problem lies there.

You've got 43 completed seasons.   Why do you need to ask why?

I guess I'm frustrated with the poor performance, so I'm looking for some outside opinion

My best guess is that it's a small sample size, and I should look forward to some regression to the mean.

He has mediocre pitches.   He's in a hitter's park.   It's a small sample size and, as you can see, he had another stretch in KC where he was lit up in a similar manner. 

Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Not sure you're going to find an answer on why, but it comes down to an increase in hits allowed.  Home runs aren't up from previous years.  Walks aren't up from previous years.  Defense behind him doesn't seem to be an issue.  The move from the NL to the AL plus the move from a more hitter friendly ballpark may account for some of the increase, but it shouldn't double his ERA.

KC is a hitter's park that suppresses homers.   I think he outplayed his ratings there but they are what they are.   Austin doesn't suppress homers.    I think you can expect more 1.45 WHIP/4.75 ERA seasons from him.