Koch (1-0) allowed two earned runs on six hits while walking two and striking out four across six innings to earn the win Thursday against the Phillies.
Koch recorded a quality start in his second straight outing, needing 102 pitches to complete his six innings of work. He has relied heavily on groundballs in each of his first two starts this season, with 20 of the 30 balls put in play against him coming on the ground. For his success to continue he will need his groundball rate to remain high, as he displayed little ability to miss bats throughout his time in the upper minors. While Koch's ratio stats are excellent for the time being, he is relying on a .056 BABIP and 100 percent strand rate, meaning his results may change for the worse as those numbers normalize.