Tyler Skaggs and Randall Delgado have arrived. Given their status as prospects, both pitchers should have already drawn some interest in most fantasy leagues. At the same time, owners have probably been hesitant to pick up two pitchers who could be pushed from the rotation once injured players are ready to return. But given the team’s struggles in the rotation, they currently rank 19th in FIP, it would be hard to remove either player from the rotation. Manager Kirk Gibson has already admitted that Brandon McCarthy and Trevor Cahill would not be in the rotation immediately following the All-Star break, though they could return shortly after. As long as Skaggs and Delgado are given more opportunities, they should draw interest in most leagues.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve reached the halfway point. With the All-Star game looming just around the corner, there’s probably not much to debate with most of the National League pitcher rankings. The biggest areas of contention of the struggling studs and the surprising breakouts. While July seems like a long way through the season, smart owners know that luck can carry this far into the season. Struggling studs will rebound, and early breakouts will turn into flameouts. How should we value these players? Let’s turn to the rankings. This month, the tiers will be characters from the show Lost, one of my first television obsessions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Justin Upton was an early favorite for National League MVP after a scalding April. The 25-year-old seemed to put 2012 behind him, hitting .298/.402/.734 through the season’s first month. It looked like Upton was ready to stick it to the Diamondbacks for giving up on him in the offseason. That all changed in May. Since May 1st, Upton has hit just .224/.339/.311, with three home runs. It’s almost as if Upton has completely forgotten how to hit.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s potential for a wide range of outcomes when an owner picks up a prospect. Recent breakout performances from Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Matt Harvey have caused fantasy owners to take notice whenever a top prospect gets a shot. But few prospects get off to blazing starts, and owners are more likely stuck with a guy like Kevin Gausman, who still has loads of potential, but struggled in his first taste of the majors. The Nationals boast one prospect who got started slowly, but has racketed things up a notch lately, and another non-prospect who is expected to make his major-league debut soon. Both Anthony Rendon and Taylor Jordan could end up playing a role on fantasy teams this season, but are they worth a pickup right now?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tyler Chatwood has emerged as the best pitcher on the Colorado Rockies. Through 44.2 innings, Chatwood already has accumulated 1.4 WAR. Jorge de la Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin may rank ahead of him, but it’s only due to pitching more than twice the amount of innings. That’s pretty shocking considering Chatwood’s performance in the majors prior to 2013. In 206.2 innings, Chatwood had a career 4.96 ERA, and his 4.98 FIP and 7.76 xFIP didn’t leave a ton of argument for improvement. At the same time, Chatwood was promoted way too aggressively. Considering Chatwood converted to pitcher his senior year of high school, began his professional career the following season and was pitching in the majors at age-21. But two years later, that inexperience has become less of an issue. The raw Chatwood is starting to take steps toward becoming a finished product.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jarrod Parker wasn’t right early in the season. Through April, Parker had given up 43 hits in 29.1 innings, and carried a bloated 7.336 ERA. There were some analysts who started to wonder if there was something wrong with the 24-year-old. Just before worry could turn into legitimate concern, Parker pulled himself out of his funk. The turning point was a May 17 start against the Royals. Since that start, Parker has a 2.19 ERA over seven starts. That’s hardly a large sample, but it’s enough to put those April fears to rest. Much of Parker’s early struggles came from an inability to locate his fastball. While that issue hasn’t completely gone away, Parker has been able to survive by making a few tweaks to his approach.

Read the rest of this entry »

Homer Bailey is pitching like an ace. In his seventh professional season, everything has come together for the one-time fifth-best prospect in baseball. It’s been a long rise to the top for Bailey, who didn’t have a sub-4.00 ERA until his sixth professional season. While his 2012 performance was a major step forward, Bailey has managed to get even better in 2013. Through 90 innings this season, Bailey has nearly matched his season-high in WAR. His 2.68 FIP rates 11th among qualified starters. Bailey may have taken a while to reach meet his lofty expectations, but the wait is well worth it given his current performance.

Read the rest of this entry »

Corey Kluber is the latest pitcher to go from journeyman to stud. The 27-year-old had just 12 starts in the majors prior to 2013. After a weak spring performance, he didn’t even break camp with the Cleveland Indians. It took an injury to Brett Myers to finally give Kluber a shot. Through 10 starts, things look pretty promising. After tossing eight shutout innings against the Washington Nationals Sunday, Kluber now has a 3.15 FIP and 2.95 xFIP on the season. That’s one heck of a performance from a pitcher who had started the last four seasons in Triple-A.

Read the rest of this entry »

How can you find value on the waiver wire in June? At this point, early breakout players are long gone, and hyped prospects get picked up far before their major-legue debuts. You’re basically stuck picking up injured players, but even the best of them are stashed on a team’s disabled list far before they are ready to return. John Danks and Logan Morrison were injured to begin the year, but have lacked the fantasy upside to have been picked up in most leagues. Both players are now back, and showing some encouraging signs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Young starting pitchers continue to make their presence known this year. Since the last NL pitcher rankings, owners have seen Tyler Skaggs, Michael Wacha, Gerrit Cole and, soon, Zack Wheeler reach fantasy-relevance. And that’s just in the National League. Some of those players will play major roles on championship-winning teams this year. How should they be valued? Let’s turn to the rankings. This month, I’m using Iron Chefs for the tiers. So, please allow me to introduce a veritable pantheon of baseball giants.

Read the rest of this entry »