2016 ERA overall is 4.84. First innings, it's 5.80. But, that's how it goes league-wide, too. (4.23 overall, 4.70 first inning). We're about a half-run more extreme. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/split.cgi?t=p&lg=AL&year=2016
That's a nice play and is more recent than my personal half-assed scouting. I still expect he'll disappoint in terms of consistency, but this is the time of the year to try him again. Are you certain 2016 was the inflection point on that?