Twins right-hander Kevin Correia shut out the Rangers over eight innings this afternoon, scattering six hits (all singles) and one walk while striking out two. His ERA after five starts rests at 2.23, a stunning statistic for the veteran with a career 4.50 ERA. Correia has gone at least seven innings in all five of his starts and has walked exactly one in all five as well. The Twins, right now, are quite happy they plucked him out of the free agent pool with a two-year, $10 million contract.
For some as yet unexplained reason, though, Correia has pitched like an ace in April in recent years, but quickly turned back into a pumpkin once the calendar turned to May. Consider his monthly ERA dating back to 2010:
April | May | June | July | August | Sept/Oct | |
2010 | 3.86 | 5.22 | 7.83 | 3.90 | 7.20 | 1.91 |
2011 | 2.90 | 4.15 | 4.46 | 6.08 | 8.41 | |
2012 | 2.42 | 5.70 | 4.36 | 5.04 | 4.01 | 3.50 |
2013 | 2.23 |
Is this the year Correia bucks the trend? The Twins have won in four of his five starts and are now a game over .500. With a good Correia, the Twins -- currently with two starters with an ERA north of 6.00, and two others north of 4.00 -- aren’t as much of an afterthought in the AL Central.