Since moving into the St. Louis Cardinals' starting rotation at the start of September, the 22-year-old has won four of his six starts and has allowed more than two runs a game only once. He's been especially tough to hit in the postseason, as he's allowed one run on six hits in 14.1 innings pitched.
Wacha wasn't quite as dominant in Saturday's NLCS Game 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers as he was in his first postseason start Oct. 7 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and wound up with a one-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 victory. The Dodgers touched him up for five hits and actually loaded the bases against him in the sixth inning before Wacha got out of the jam. Wacha finished the night with eight strikeouts and a shutout victory.
Wacha couldn't have picked a better time to assert himself, either. He's pitching his best ball when all eyes are on the baseball world and the pressure is at its highest point. Another outing like the ones he's been having lately, and Wacha might enter the 2014 Cy Young discussion before we see him as a starter for a full season.
It's too soon to tell if Wacha will have the kind of career that Gibson had (251-174, 2.91 ERA, 3,117 strikeouts in 17 seasons), but he's off to a very good start.
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