May 5, 2024 12:11 AM : Lively (1-1) earned the win over the Angels on Saturday, allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out five batters over six innings.
Analysis: Lively got through four scoreless frames before the Angels posted a run in the fifth, but that was all the scoring the right-hander ended up allowing. The soon-to-be 32-year-old has yielded exactly one run in each of his past three starts, and he's given up a total of five earned runs across 21.2 innings on the season for a sterling ERA of 2.08. It's a bit difficult to imagine Lively continuing this level of success given that he entered the campaign with a 5.05 ERA across 208.2 career innings as a major-leaguer, and his Statcast numbers show that despite his strong start to the season, he has given up plenty of hard contact while rarely getting batters to chase. However, it's also worth noting that his strikeout numbers have tangibly risen -- Lively had a career 6.9 K/9 prior to this season but is at a 10.0 K/9 through four starts this year.