Mariners Chris Flexen is one of the best home pitchers in baseball

Chris Flexen has been one of the most pleasant surprises in all of baseball this season. After spending a bit of time with the Mets, he went over and played in the KBA. At just 26, he made his return to the majors when he signed a deal with the Seattle Mariners.

Since returning to the bigs, Chris Flexen has been having a great season for the Mariners. In fact, when it comes to pitching at home games in T-Mobile Park, Chris Flexen has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Mariners Chris Flexen has the third-best home ERA in all of baseball.

I’m not just talking about the third-best home ERA at T-Mobile Park either. I mean of any qualified pitcher throwing at home, in all of baseball. He trails just two guys. In second is Lance Lynn, who has a 1.50 ERA while pitching for the White Sox. The first is the clear-runner for the MVP in the National League, Jacob DeGrom. His home ERA of 1.20 is actually a lot worse than his road ERA, which is a minuscule 0.84.

For Flexen, he sits all alone in third with a home ERA of 1.76 in 66.1 innings, accomplished across 10 starts. I know it would be a bit of a push, but an ERA of 1.76 would actually lead all human beings. DeGrom is an alien, so he doesn’t count.

It’s a bit odd in the way he is doing it, though. He has just 43 strikeouts for a rate of 6.3 K/9, much lower than anyone else on the list. You actually have to go all the way down to noted non-strikeout master Hyun Jin Ryu at 34, whose strikeout rate is 6.14 K/9. He’s also helped by a low walk rate, 1.47 BB/9, and the fact that he has yet to have a runner steal while he is pitching.

That’s not the only thing helping him though, as he sees nearly a double play every time he pitches at home, with nine occurring in his ten starts, good for a T-3rd in all qualified pitchers at home. It’s also been a nice marker for helping to push the other young Mariners pitchers.

It’s nearly impossible to predict who he is going to face, and where he would face them due to the Mariners inconsistent health of their pitching rotation. We do know that he will have the ball for the opener against Oakland, as well as next Tuesday’s game against the Trash-stros. Both games will be at home.

Games against Oakland and Houston will both be massive tests for Flexen and the Mariners. If he can keep it up throughout the second half of the season, that should be enough to keep the Mariners within shouting distance of the wild card.