MLB Player Profile: Kyle Lohse
Kyle Lohse has been a competitive baseball player in his 10 years at Major League Baseball. He currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals as a starting pitcher after stints with the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies earlier
in his career.
The right-handed pitcher, born on October 4, 1978, is in his 11th year of professional baseball. He has not been a dominant force at the mound but has shown pieces of brilliance. His arm strength is tremendous and his repertoire of deliveries
is immaculate but the only thing which lacks is consistency.
Lohse was drafted in the 29th round of the 1996 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs but made his debut in the Majors with the Minnesota Twins on June 22, 2001 after being traded to the Twins in 1999 for Rick Aguilera.
Kyle played 19 games for the Twins in 2001, starting 16 of them and managing just 64 strike-outs in the process. His win-loss record did and ERA did not impress but the Twins, given this was his first season, decided to continue with Lohse as a regular member
of the rotation.
2002 was Lohse’s first complete season at MLB and he proved the Twins’ decision to be right. The right-hander pitched 180.2 innings in 31 starts and bagged 124 strike-outs at a much improved ERA of 4.23. His win-loss record impressed at 13-8 and he signaled
that he needed a longer stretch of games to exhibit his talent.
Lohse focused on his fastball and his curveball to topple the batters earlier in his career. His fastball, clocking the 90 mph on the radar, became a lethal weapon and rarely did it witness an aerial hit. The starter does possess a slider but has rarely
used it to avoid injury scare.
Lohse bagged a career-best 130 strike-outs in 2003 with a 14-11 win-loss record in 33 starts. His ERA continued to remain on the upper side and this became one area where the opposition posed a threat to him.
Kyle parted ways with the Twins midway through the 2006 season after the Cincinnati Reds signed the pitcher on the midseason trade deadline in a deal which involved Minor League pitcher Zach Ward. He had a pretty ordinary time with the Twins in 2006 with
his eight starts fetching just 46 strike-outs at an ERA of 7.07. Five of his eight starts ended in disappointment while he prevailed in just two of them.
He started 11 games for the Reds in 2006 and showed quick improvement with the change of jersey as his ERA dropped down to 4.57 and his strike-out tally crossed the 50 mark. His number of wins at three, however, remained lower than the number of losses (5).
The midseason trade deadline in 2007 witnessed Lohse being traded yet again for a Minor League pitcher, this time from the Reds to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds managed to land the top-prospect of the Phillies against Lohse who was losing his command
at the mound. After just 11 starts for the Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Lohse for a one-year deal worth $4.25 million.
His performance at his new team impressed his critics even as his win-loss record at midseason stood at 11-2 and made him eligible for the All-Star selection. His previous record, which had not been impressive, however, halted his way to the All-Star roster.
Lohse’s first season with the Cardinals yielded his career-best win-loss record of 15-6 at an ERA of 3.78. Many read this as a start of a new era for Lohse but his inconsistency was one factor which they overlooked.
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