Something changes in baseball when the calendar turns to June. Through April and May we will often see players and pitchers post numbers that are far better than they were expected to, or teams that get off to shockingly good starts. By June, though, the season is a third over, and the weight of numbers and reality starts to weigh on players. Overachieving players start to come back to earth, and teams that are playing beyond themselves find that they just can’t do it anymore. June can be especially cruel for pitchers. By the time June dawns starting pitchers have faced many of their rivals at least once, and there is a large sample size of recent performances for opposing teams to scout before they face the pitchers. Good pitchers will still continue to be good pitchers, but those who are getting by because of unexpected or unfamiliar stuff aren’t going to get away with it anymore. Pitchers also have 10 or a dozen starts under their belts, so they are starting to feel the wear and tear of the season on their arms.

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