You know, I had seen somewhere in another thread that there was some hand-wringing about Joseph and his numbers this year. He's given up 26 runs in 21 innings, which at first glance is woefully alarming.

But upon further inspection, is there absolutely any reason to be worried?

He's also got 26 strikeouts in those same 21 innings. He's given up only a respectable nine walks in 21 innings. He's got a 2:1 groundball to flyball ratio and 63% strike rate, which is respectable.

There was some talk his velocity is down. I have no idea if that's the case and obviously haven't watched him so I'm only going by the numbers. But given the strength of all these peripherals, is his high ERA really anything more than a very random fluke? Perhaps there's something more at play, but it seems to me if there are issues, they're minor in the grand scheme of things.

Thoughts?