Well, let's look at those 8 starts, or maybe 9 because I like bookends:
6/20: 9 IP, 1 unearned run (Shaw error and botched pickoff throw) on 5 H, 3BB, 6 SO. Kimbrel with the loss in the 10th.
6/25: 5 unearned runs in the fifth on errors by Xander and Hanley, and it's a Ross WP that lets in the last. Still, 3 earned in the fourth before that, and he admits he doesn't have the knuckle. Beaten by summer in Arlington, again.
7/1: after 5 scoreless, loses control as the sixth gets rainy. Double, HBP, walk, GS on a full count fastball where Farrell says he should have thrown the knuckle.
7/6: 5 good innings (1 unearned on a Pedey error) again, then 5ER across the 6th and 7th as he and Hanigan, with a 10 run lead, start trying to challenge with fastballs to go deeper and spare the pen in a blowout.
7/15: great through 5 scoreless, sitting down the first 14 in a row, loses control a bit in the sixth with a HPB and walk coming around for 2 of 3 ER, but finishes the inning.
7/21: 8 IP, 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits, 9 SO, 1BB. Maybe it doesn't count cause Twins?
7/26: a bad game. 9 runs (8 earned) on 8 hits, 3 BB, a HR to Miggy, wild pitches moving base runners.
7/31: not good either, but luckier. Somehow scatters 10 hits and 3 BB across 5 IP while only giving up 3, all in the 5th. Helps his own case by getting two putouts at home in the first alone.
8/5: 9 IP, 3 hits, 9 SO, 1 BB, complete game shutout.
That's a really interesting stretch with a bad couple games at the end of July, and it demonstrated an easy lesson that I think Farrell recognized: If Wright needs to rely on his fastball, you're in trouble. His knuckleball is clearly susceptible to rain and sweat, but you also need to be ready with a quick hook in the fifth or sixth if it falters with fatigue, and in those cases it's generally better to have him walk a couple guys while you get a reliever ready. All the trouble in those middle innings makes me think maybe he should be viewed primarily as a twice through the order guy, with leeway to go longer if he's having a dominant night.
But his flaws seem to be pretty manageable if you know what to look for, really. I think in my mind he's the fifth starter if he proves his shoulder has recovered next spring.
