What's the difference with Kazmir?

We all remember Scott Kazmir as that great Devil Rays pitcher on terrible teams. But now he's struggling with a 5.27 ERA. What's going on?

From 2005, his first full season, to 2008, Kazmir averaged 29 starts, a 11-8 record, 186 K's, and a 3.51 ERA per season. He was an all-star in '06 with the D-rays and '08 with the Rays. But, in '09, everything was different. In his first 20 starts, Kazmir went 8-7 with 91 K's, but with a bad 5.92 ERA. The Rays, seeing that something was off with him, traded him to the Angels for 2 prospects and a player to be named later. (That player to be named later turned out to be Sean Rodriguez, Tampa's current starting 2nd baseman.)

Kazmir responded in a big way after being traded to the Angels, going 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA in 6 starts. He appeared to have fixed whatever was wrong with him. But then, he exploded in the playoffs, going 0-0 with a 7.50 ERA in 1 start in the ALDS against Boston, and then going 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA in 1 start and 1 relief appearance against the Yankees in the ALCS. Kazmir has carried that bad stretch in the '09 playoffs into '10, as he has 6-5 with a 5.27 ERA and 42 K's. What has been the difference between the '05-'08 Kazmir and the '09-'10 Kazmir?

From '05-'08, Kazmir averaged 9.7 strikeouts, 4.1 walks, 8.1 hits, and 0.9 homers per 9 inning. From '08-'09, he has struck out just 6.9 batters, walked 4.0, allowed 9.1 hits, and allowed 1.1 homers per 9 innings. The strikeouts have gone way down, and the increases in hits and homers allowed per 9 innings just make matters worse. Kazmir has always been a strikeout pitcher, but he has gotten away from that now. That's clearly why he's doing worse.

To put it in perspective, let's compare his terrible '10 to his career stats. During his career, righty batters have hit .250 against Kazmir, while lefties have hit .233 against him. (If you don't already know, he's a lefty pitcher.) But in '10, things have been crazy. Righties have hit just .225 against Kazmir, but lefties have hit .420. Every lefty hitter has been Ted Williams against Kazmir! Kazmir is having a lot of trouble pitching to lefty hitters right now. He obviously needs to fix that somehow.

My final example: how Kazmir has fared against the Yankees and Red Sox. I remember Kazmir dominating both the Yanks and the Red Sox. While that's not completely accurate, he has posted a 3.34 ERA against the Yankees and a 3.94 ERA against the Red Sox. In '10, he has posted a 9.64 ERA against the Yankees, and a 14.54 ERA against the Red Sox. Kazmir is not the same pitcher that every Yankee and Red Sox fan used to hate.

Kazmir just isn't the same pitcher. He doesn't strike out that many batters anymore. Lefties dominate him. Even teams that he did well against in the past can hit him now. Something is wrong with Kazmir. He better fix this problem, or we'll always remember him as that great Devil Rays starter on those terrible teams who never did well once his teams became good.