MIAMI (AP) – Edinson Volquez admits he was “tired” toward the second half of last season. That attributed to his bloated 5.37 ERA, he said.
The 33-year-old right-hander, fresh off completing his $22 million, two-year contract with the Miami Marlins, assured everyone Friday that he is now rested and ready to go.
“I pitched a lot of innings the year before,” Volquez said in Spanish, referring to the 200 1/3 innings he threw for the World Series champion Kansas City Royals in 2015, when he went 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA. “By June and July (of 2016), I was tired.”
Volquez, who has made more than 30 starts in each of the past four years, was 10-11 last season.
Volquez joins a rotation shaken by the loss of ace Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating accident a week before the end of the regular season in September.