Players · W · Pitcher · 2026
Michael Wacha
- Age
- 35
- B/T
- R/R
- Height
- 6' 6"
- Weight
- 215 lb
- Number
- #52
- Born
- July 1, 1991 in Iowa City, IA, United States
- MLB debut
- May 30, 2013
- Drafted
- 2012, round 1
- College
- Texas A&M
- High school
- Pleasant Grove
- Salary, 2026
- $18M
- dbWAR
- 20.4 18 season(s)
- IP
- 194.1
- ERA
- 3.33
- FIP
- 4.32
- K/9
- 7.1
- FIP−
- 103 100 = avg
Michael Wacha is a starting pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. In 2026 he struck out 154 batters over 194.1 innings across 31 appearances, 31 of them starts, going 9-9. His ERA of 3.33 is 20.2% lower than the league average of 4.18 — the third best on his team, and 135th of 538 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.32 FIP suggests that his ERA had some help behind him. He missed bats on 21.8% of swings (10.7% of every pitch he threw), walked 6.7% of the batters he faced and struck out 19.6%. His 2.3 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.
League context
Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.
WAR by season
Pitching
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | KC | 31 | 31 | 194.1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 162 | 72 | 154 | 53 | 3.33 | 4.32 | 1.11 | 7.1 | 2.5 | 80 | 103 | 2.3 | |
| 2025 | KC | 31 | 31 | 172.2 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 166 | 74 | 126 | 45 | 3.86 | 3.66 | 1.22 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 93 | 88 | 3.0 | |
| 2024 | KC | 29 | 29 | 166.2 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 154 | 62 | 145 | 45 | 3.35 | 3.65 | 1.19 | 7.8 | 2.4 | 82 | 90 | 3.0 | |
| 2023 | SD | 24 | 24 | 134.1 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 113 | 48 | 124 | 43 | 3.22 | 3.89 | 1.16 | 8.3 | 2.9 | 74 | 90 | 2.2 | |
| 2022 | BOS | 23 | 23 | 127.1 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 111 | 47 | 104 | 31 | 3.32 | 4.14 | 1.12 | 7.4 | 2.2 | 84 | 104 | 1.4 | |
| 2021 | TB | 29 | 23 | 124.2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 132 | 70 | 121 | 31 | 5.05 | 4.47 | 1.31 | 8.7 | 2.2 | 118 | 105 | 0.9 | |
| 2020 | NYM | 8 | 7 | 34.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 25 | 37 | 7 | 6.62 | 5.25 | 1.56 | 9.8 | 1.9 | 149 | 118 | 0.1 | |
| 2019 | STL | 29 | 24 | 126.2 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 143 | 67 | 104 | 55 | 4.76 | 5.61 | 1.56 | 7.4 | 3.9 | 106 | 125 | -0.2 | |
| 2018 | STL | 15 | 15 | 84.1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 68 | 30 | 71 | 36 | 3.20 | 4.22 | 1.23 | 7.6 | 3.8 | 77 | 102 | 0.9 | |
| 2017 | STL | 30 | 30 | 165.2 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 170 | 76 | 158 | 55 | 4.13 | 3.63 | 1.36 | 8.6 | 3.0 | 95 | 83 | 3.2 | |
| 2016 | STL | 27 | 24 | 138.0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 159 | 78 | 114 | 45 | 5.09 | 3.91 | 1.48 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 121 | 93 | 1.9 | |
| 2015 | STL | 30 | 30 | 181.1 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 162 | 68 | 153 | 58 | 3.38 | 3.87 | 1.21 | 7.6 | 2.9 | 85 | 98 | 2.2 |
Batting
Standard and advanced, by season.
| Trend | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | TB | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | — | 0.0% | 100.0% | .000 | -0.8 | -128 | -0.0 | |
| 2019 | STL | 22 | 39 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 | .167 | .167 | .194 | .028 | .400 | 0.0% | 53.8% | .155 | -5.6 | -14 | 0.0 | |
| 2018 | STL | 15 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .080 | .115 | .080 | .000 | .125 | 3.1% | 28.1% | .095 | -5.8 | -56 | -0.1 | |
| 2017 | STL | 28 | 55 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 22 | .043 | .063 | .043 | .000 | .080 | 1.8% | 40.0% | .051 | -12.5 | -90 | -0.4 | |
| 2016 | STL | 23 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 | .026 | .095 | .026 | .000 | .059 | 6.7% | 48.9% | .071 | -9.0 | -71 | -0.3 | |
| 2015 | STL | 27 | 62 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 20 | .154 | .214 | .173 | .019 | .250 | 6.5% | 32.3% | .184 | -6.5 | 7 | 0.3 |
Platoon splits
How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.
| Split | PA | AB | H | HR | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | K% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs LHB | 456 | 419 | 90 | 10 | 33 | 96 | .215 | .276 | .339 | .275 | 21.1% |
| vs RHB | 330 | 303 | 72 | 18 | 20 | 58 | .238 | .293 | .495 | .338 | 17.6% |
Pitch sequencing
What Michael Wacha throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.
Select a count to see exactly what Michael Wacha throws in it.
Pitch arsenal
What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.
| Four-Seam Fastball | 809 | 93.1 | 2,151 | 49.4% | 20.6% | 186 | .220 | .632 | |
| Changeup | 732 | 80.6 | 1,531 | 47.8% | 27.6% | 209 | .187 | .536 | |
| Cutter | 438 | 89.5 | 2,151 | 45.4% | 14.5% | 116 | .267 | .882 | |
| Sinker | 407 | 93.2 | 2,062 | 43.2% | 13.1% | 111 | .216 | .777 | |
| Curveball | 294 | 75.9 | 2,268 | 42.2% | 25.6% | 39 | .231 | .749 | |
| Slider | 258 | 85.0 | 2,018 | 35.3% | 31.0% | 61 | .295 | .793 |
Head to head
Put Michael Wacha beside up to three others.
Or read one already written — Michael Wacha against:
Similar players
Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.
wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.