45 Tyler Skaggs SP

Skaggs (3-1) tossed seven shutout innings and allowed just four hits and a walk with three strikeouts to earn the win Monday over Houston.

Skaggs worked efficiently, as he used 11 ground balls to finish seven innings for the first time this season. The key was his ability to locate all four of his pitches for strikes. Skaggs threw a two-seamer, four-seamer, changeup and curveballs at least 20 times each, and his ability to mix seamlessly between the four kept the vaunted Astros lineup on its toes. He has been up-and-down so far in this young season, but Skaggs owns a nifty 2.96 ERA through five starts.

Skaggs (2-1) allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk with four strikeouts through 4.1 innings in a loss Wednesday to the Red Sox.

Skaggs has pitched more than five innings just once this inning. This time, Skaggs collapsed in the third innings, as Rafael Devers's grand slam finished off a five-run frame. Skaggs was effective but inefficient in his first few starts, but the floodgates finally burst on him Wednesday night, and his ERA is up to 3.98 as a result.

Skaggs (2-0) allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out seven and walking four across five innings to earn the win Tuesday against the Rangers.

Skaggs kept his sparkling ERA intact in his third start of the season, but the performance raises red flags about his ability to pitch with efficiency consistently. For the second consecutive start, he topped 100 pitches but failed to pitch more than five innings. He continues to rack up strikeouts -- he has 17 over 16 innings to begin the season -- and clearly has the stuff to succeed, but his strand rate now sits well over 80 percent so if he wants to keep these results he'll need to do better at limiting baserunners in future starts.

Skaggs allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts over just 4.2 innings in a no-decision Wednesday against Cleveland.

Skaggs was nasty at times, and the five strikeouts kept the floodgates from bursting, but his inability to close at-bats early cost him, as he needed 103 pitches (67 strikes) to get just 14 outs. Considering his injury history, the Angels felt no need to further push him. Skaggs threw 6.1 shutout innings in his first start, so he's still sitting pretty with a 1.64 ERA.

Skaggs (1-0) allowed just three hits over 6.1 innings in a 2-1 victory over Oakland on Friday. He struck out five and walked none.

Skaggs got his 2018 off to a phenomenal start in the victory in a pitcher's duel with Sean Manaea. With Skaggs the question isn't so much skill as it is durability. He's never thrown more than 113 innings in a season and has pitched just 134.2 innings over the past two years. Skaggs seems to be at full health to start the season, so the thought of what he could do if he stays on the field all year is an intriguing one.