American League
Blue Jays
• Hang in there with this story about Robbie Ray. First, I thought he might be worth taking a chance because his velocity was up in Spring Training
With an ADP of 294, I thought why not roster him. If things turn south, I could let him go.
In his first two starts, he posted an 8.1 BB/9 leading to a 1.60 WHIP. I couldn’t stand the walks and dropped him for … Josh Fleming.

Oopsie. This move probably cost a few hundred dollars. Rostering the league’s likely Cy Young winner would have been helpful. The deal is that I should have had a little more patience since Ray missed some time with a bruised elbow and it took a while to heal.
It took one start in spring training for Ray to feel like the work he put in over the winter would pay off. When his season began — albeit slightly delayed after he bruised his elbow after a fall — he felt confident about where he was. As the season has progressed, it has only gotten better.
So I’ve come up with a set of simple rules to handle desirable players coming back from injuries.
- Assume they are not 100% and give them some time to heal.
- If necessary, bench them.
- Look for improvement over the next couple of weeks. If none, then cut. One option is that there may be some improvement but not enough to start.
It will always be more of art than a science threading that line from having the patience to hold on too long to an injured and/or underperforming player. For myself, I need to get the hurt ones a little more time. Read the rest of this entry »