Alright, I’ll admit it. It’s a premature question.

However, I would like to point out how awesome it is that this is a question that can be asked, given what we saw take place in the opening week for Bailey Falter.

Falter has not had it easy over his tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates so far. A trade acquisition at the deadline last year, Falter arrived in the Steel City in a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Pirates, having the back end of their rotation being cobbled together with journeymen and bullpen games, needed arms. And Falter was…well, an arm.

A great arm? No. An ok arm? Maybe not even that. The Phillies had began the season with Falter in their rotation, but after 40.1 innings (7 starts) saw him record a 5.13 ERA for them, the Phillies optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

There, his numbers improved only slightly. In 11 starts and 47.0 innings pitched for Lehigh Valley, Falter’s ERA clocked in at 4.21. The trade, which sent infielder Rodolfo Castro the other way, saw a promotion in line for Falter back to the big leagues.

His time in Pittsburgh really established a trend and an odd career path for Falter. He genuinely can be a very good pitcher at times. His ERA is heavily inflated due to certain very poor starts, and unfortunately for him, that clouds some very solid performances over his career, especially as a Pirate.

Take his first month in Pittsburgh, for example. He made five starts for the big league club in August after the trade, recording a 1-1 record with a 4.88 ERA. Would you believe that in three of those five starts, he did not allow more than a solo earned run?