Bryan Woo is set to face the Athletics in Seattle this evening, and the right-hander is again expected to work deep into the game. He’s gone six innings in each of his 24 starts this season, a streak that stands as the longest active run in baseball. Only two other pitchers—Cristopher Sánchez and Spencer Schwellenbach—have gone six or more innings in at least 10 of their most recent starts, and Schwellenbach is sidelined by a fractured elbow.
What makes Woo notable isn’t just the consistency of these six-inning outings, but what hasn’t happened during them. He hasn’t delivered a standout, game-changing surge in any single start this year. He’s also yet to post a double-digit strikeout game in his major league career and hasn’t completed an eighth inning in a single outing. Yet the ERA story is compelling: after an April 12 win over Texas lowered his figure to 2.84, his ERA has largely hovered within a half-run of 3.00, staying within a tight band since the second week of June.
The numbers paint Woo as a precise, reliable pitcher who makes hitters earn it. He throws a five-pitch mix and, unlike some with big repertoires, uses all of his offerings to both sides of the plate with regularity. PitchingBot ranks him as one of the best command artists among qualified starters, and Statcast data show him consistently working inside the zone (about 58.1% of the time), a figure only beaten by a handful of peers. A large portion of his strikes land in the heart of the plate—about 31.0% of his offerings have been aimed there, ranking 16th among 161 pitchers with 1,000 or more pitches this season.
While Woo isn’t an overpowering strikeout artist, he’s been effective at limiting hard contact. Opponents bat just .147 with a 29.5% whiff rate against his four-seam fastball, and his fastball has become one of the better pitches in the league in terms of run value. He doesn’t walk many batters, and when balls are put in play, he’s allowed 10 batted balls with exit velocity of 110 mph or greater this year, a total that places him among the top 20 in the majors. He has given up 22 home runs, tying him for 14th in the league, but 18 of those have been solo shots—helped by his heavy bases-empty workload, which accounts for 67.8% of his pitches this season (eighth-highest among 161 starters with 1,000 or more pitches).
Woo has actually shown improved performance in high-leverage spots. He owns a .202 opponent wOBA with runners in scoring position, which is among the better marks for starters with runners on. In contrast, his wOBA with the bases empty is notably higher, illustrating how his results tighten when there are men on base and the pressure rises.
Last year’s numbers reveal a pitcher who leaned into control. Woo led the league (among pitchers with at least 100 innings) in both overall strike percentage and first-pitch strike percentage, and he was the only qualified starter to throw more than 70% of his pitches for strikes. This year, he’s largely kept that strike-first approach, though there’s a modest dip in first-pitch and overall strike rates, suggesting a slight easing in the aggressiveness that helped him post elite control last season.
You’ll see Woo’s efficiency reflected in the pitches-per-batter metrics as well. He’s among the league leaders in fewest pitches per batter faced, and when you translate the workload by inning rather than per batter, the correlation between efficiency and overall quality becomes even stronger. In the current season’s numbers, his Pitches per Batter Faced sits in the top tier, with a recent emphasis on maintaining tempo and inducing weak contact rather than chasing unnecessary strikes.
Key takeaways
– Woo’s six-inning streak is the centerpiece: consistent, dependable innings without dramatic outbursts.
– His command remains elite by many measures and his pitch mix keeps hitters off balance from both sides of the plate.
– He’s efficient: among the leaders in fewest pitches per batter faced, which helps him work deeper into games even when home-run totals are a factor.
– The challenge going forward is to translate steady performance into more high-leverage results and, if possible, a few more strikeout games to push his ceiling upward.
Summary
Brian Woo has built a reputation this season as baseball’s most consistent six-inning pitcher, a reliability that has made him a tactical asset for Seattle. His mix of five pitches, strong command, and ability to minimize hard contact makes him a valuable innings-eater with the potential to edge into higher-strikeout territory as he continues to refine usage and sequencing. If his current approach holds, Woo could keep providing solid depth for his team and perhaps unlock more upside in time.
A hopeful note
If Woo maintains this level of precision and efficiency, he could become not just a dependable presence on days he’s at his best, but a pitcher who quietly compounds value by eliminating free passes and giving his lineup a chance to win in tighter ballgames. He’s shown he can beat hitters without overpowering stuff; with continued development, that blend of control and consistency may translate into even longer stints and meaningful wins as the season progresses.