So let's say that age is the determining factor by which any judgment of Lyles must be filtered. Would it not be fair to expect him to get better and better as he approaches the age he "should have been" brought up? He's not so much developing at the ML level as he is stalling or even regressing.

20: 5.36, 1.415 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, 10.2 Hits/9
21: 5.09, 1.422 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 10.1 Hits/9
22: 5.40, 1 530 WHIP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.9 hits/9.

So, from age 20 to 22 he has become significantly more hittable and shown less control.

By way of comparison, let's say that there's some national emergency and a bunch of second year med students are pressed into service as ER surgeons. Would they be expected to botch more or less surgeries in their third year on the job than their first?