It has been quite the Major League debut for Astros starting pitcher Jarred Cosart. Through 8 starts, he has allowed just 9 earned runs over 51 innings for a minuscule 1.59 ERA. The 23-year-old rookie is no doubt making waves as one of the better young pitchers in the game. And while that may well be true, it certainly isn’t because of how he has performed thus far.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are in a great position to end their 20-year playoff drought. The club showed a willingness to go all-in Tuesday, acquiring both Marlon Byrd and John Buck. There’s also some talk that team could also make a play for Twins first baseman Justin Morneau. The focus on offense shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the team has been led by strong pitching all year. Overall, Pirates pitchers rank fifth with a 3.49 FIP. Aside from Gerrit Cole, the team hasn’t seen major contributions from their young prospects yet. Instead, the team has seen huge payoffs from the most unlikely sources.
September is almost upon us, which is when my job gets infinitely easier. Luckily, a trade and poor performance from an incumbent has given these interesting lads an opportunity. Hopefully the opportunity is used to perform well and earn some Only league value.
With the Phillies in need of a starter in wake of Saturday’s 18 inning affair against the Diamondbacks, the team turned to Roy Halladay. The former Cy Young Award winner was supposed to start in Double-A on Sunday in a more traditional rehab appearance, but the Phillies were desperate and moved up Halladay’s timetable by a week or two.
Ryan Vogelsong and Roy Halladay have returned to the big leagues. Both have had decent results so far, and ones that can’t completely be explained away by matchups. On the other hand, the underlying realities of their arsenals right now combine to make a powerful argument against trusting either veteran with a crucial late-season start for your fantasy team.
Owners of Alex Wood in long term leagues will have some type of dilemma on their hands entering next year. There are so many types of keeper leagues that it is difficult to write specifically toward any type of league set up, but generally I notice keeper leagues allow free agent pick ups to be kept in round (x).
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Royals pitching prospect Miguel Almonte entered the year as the #10 prospect in the Kansas City system according to Baseball America, and it’s hard to argue that he deserves to fall from that perch in the coming ranking season. As a 20-year-old in his first full-season campaign, the Dominican righthander has posted a 3.16 ERA and 2.97 FIP with a 117/36 K/BB in 119 2/3 innings. As with any young arm in the low minors, there’s still a significant amount of mystery and uncertainty surrounding Almonte. He held up quite well in my viewing earlier this season, though, showing a good combination of potential and polish.
During last night’s Fantasy Baseball Roundtable radio show that I participate in every Wednesday night, I was asked in one of our regular segments whether Felix Hernandez would remain an effective pitcher after the age of 30. On the surface, this seemed like a pretty absurd question. Of course he would! What would make anyone think he wouldn’t? This article won’t actually answer that question. However, when quickly scanning the King’s statistical record in order to determine my response, there appeared to be some crazy things going on. I would like to share those with you.
Back in July, Mike Petriello gave us a nice background on Ivan Nova, so I’ll spare you his biographical introduction. At the time, it was July and Nova had looked pretty solid in a handful of starts, but the dreaded small sample size kind of loomed. But since that time, he’s just continued to confound opponents and he appears to be emerging as one of the more shrewd waiver wire acquisitions of the 2013 season. What’s interesting is how different he has been this year versus his career.
We’ve officially reached the calm before the storm. With just a month and a half to go, the National League starting pitcher tiers have finally started to settle in. Once September rolls around, and teams start calling up prospects, it all goes to hell again. While the trading deadline has passed in most fantasy leagues, there’s still a chance to take stock of potential keepers, or cut dead weight for a potentially better player on the waiver wire. With Breaking Bad being such a topical subject, the tiers will be a ranking of the best characters on the show. Please keep in mind the players are tiered. If Homer Bailey and Shelby Miller are in the same tier, that means I value them about the same. It doesn’t mean whichever player is listed first is better. Enjoy.
