How far the great have fallen

[weams]

http://milwaukee.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/09/the-tko-of-taylor-jungmann/

2015 was a season largely devoid of bright spots on the field for the Milwaukee Brewers. But the lone exception to this nightmare was the brilliant debut of rookie pitcher Taylor Jungmann. Jungmann debuted last June, and upon his arrival in Milwaukee he proceeded to blow the lid off of everybody?s expectations: a 2.49 ERA through August, a July in which he failed to surrender a single home run, and wins in five of his first six big-league decisions. That was the good part of the season. Unfortunately, reality came crashing down hard in September. Jungmann failed to notch a win after September 3rd, and his ERA ballooned to 3.77 overall with a 7.85 mark down the stretch.

Big-league hitters, it seemed, had adjusted to Jungmann?s less-than-dominating stuff. This notion was solidified in April, as Jungmann posted a comically bad 9.15 ERA over five starts. On April 29th, one day after the Cubs hung five runs on him and chased him to the clubhouse in the fourth inning, Jungmann was designated for assignment.

Jungmann?s replacement in the rotation, at least for now, is Junior Guerra: a 31-year-old career minor leaguer (4 innings of Major League service time coming into the season) whose 3.97 FIP and 4.63 ERA at Colorado Springs are, well, not particularly impressive. Over the span of three months, Jungmann nailed down a starting job long-term. In the two months of action since, he has completely undone all that good?and then some. What happened? How did Taylor Jungmann?s young career disintegrate so quickly and so completely?