Though he was originally called up as a full-time starter in 2007, Kyle Kendrick has been anything but full-time since 2009. In 2007 and 2008, Kendrick made 51 appearances and 50 of them were starts, but just 67 of his next 107 appearances were as a starter, a rate that has been even lower the past two seasons as Kendrick started 15 of his 34 games in 2011 and 19 of 31 this season. Needless to say, this variable usage pattern makes Kendrick a tough player to draft and hold for an entire season.

As far as this season is concerned, the only obstacle to ownership bigger than Kendrick’s usage was his performance. In the first half of the season, Kendrick allowed opposing hitters to rack up an .822 OPS, which left him with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP and rendered him all but useless. An effective stint in the bullpen later, and Kendrick has emerged as a far better pitcher than he was in the first half, posting a 2.95 ERA and 1.01 WHIP over his six starts in August; his last four outings in the month were even better as he went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. The .198 BABIP he rode to those results may not stick around, but Kendrick’s string of successful outings isn’t just some mirage. Beating the Marlins and Mets may not be the world’s toughest task, but beating the Nationals and Brewers — the best offense of the bunch — is a better example of what Kendrick has been quietly doing lately, the question is what changed. Read the rest of this entry »

Roster expansion can lead to players getting more opportunities. In some cases, this means redemption for players who were up earlier in the year, and eventually sent to the minors. The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced that Trevor Bauer will get another chance to prove himself in the majors. And while the team won’t call him up immediately, he could still provide some value in the fantasy playoffs.

Read the rest of this entry »

September roster expansion and resulting call-ups are almost upon us. But although the party has not begun just yet, we have still seen many new faces among American League starting pitchers in recent weeks. Here are a couple worth discussing.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nationals’ pitching has gotten plenty of attention this season. Their starters have accumulated 15.3 WAR thus far, good for tops in all of baseball. Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez have been tremendous, while Jordan Zimmermann proved his early-career success wasn’t a fluke. With Edwin Jackson, the Nationals foursome is a force to be reckoned with. Through it all, Ross Detwiler has remained the forgotten man. And while a brief demotion from the rotation may have scared owners away, he’s been another solid option for the Nationals over the second half.

Read the rest of this entry »

Depending a little on the quality of the farm system in question, being the second best prospect in a team’s minor league system isn’t a bad position to be in. Assuming the system in question is average or above, being the second best prospect means having a great shot to make the majors and a decent shot at being an everyday player. What it does not mean, however, is the wider name recognition that comes with being the big dog in the minors. Trevor Bauer’s early season dominance of the minor leagues meant that the #FreeTrevorBauer hashtags came out every time a Diamondbacks starter faltered even slightly. He eventually did win his freedom, only to go 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in the majors before heading back to Triple-A. I still have pie-in-the-sky hopes and expectations for Bauer’s future, especially as he’s back in Reno making a mockery of PCL and its so called “hitters parks”, but the future of the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff is hardly dependent on just one man.

There was no such clamor for Tyler Skaggs, despite the fact that he’s been nearly as good as Bauer in the minors this season. Their WHIP and ERA figures are close — Skaggs’ WHIP was slightly better at 1.22 compared to Bauer’s 1.30, but Bauer’s 2.39 ERA bests Skaggs’ 2.87 — though Bauer’s incredible strikeout numbers give him the leg up on Skaggs in terms of overall potential. Skaggs does hold one major advantage over Bauer as the fantasy season hits the stretch run: He’s the only one of the pair currently in the major leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the main products of the last big Adrian Gonzalez trade debuted for the Padres last night. Though he didn’t allow a run to the Braves in six innings, Casey Kelly’s first start was — much like the rest of his professional career to date — uneven with a chance of sunshine.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, Brandon Morrow made his return to the Blue Jays rotation. He allowed 4 runs (2 earned) to go with 7 Ks and 1 BB over 4 2/3 innings. It was Morrow’s first start since June 11th when he strained his left oblique. All signs are positive and I see only a couple of possible future problems for him.

Morrow was having a good season before landing on the DL, but it is a little tough to gauge his true talent level. He has a near 3 ERA which is a career best for him (4.37 average for his previous seasons). His strikeout rate is down to a career low of 8 K/9. The drop in strikeouts is offset by his BB/9 going down to 2.7, which is also a career low.

Read the rest of this entry »

September is right around the corner, which means it’s time to really start preparing for the fantasy playoffs. Here are a pair of AL East youngsters who can boost your roster for the stretch drive…

Pedro Ciriaco | 2B, SS, 3B | Red Sox | Owned: 21% Yahoo! and 29.9% ESPN

Ciriaco, 26, got his shot with the Red Sox early last month due to various injuries and has quickly established himself as a pesky, “this guy shouldn’t be killing us” type of player for whoever happens to be playing Boston on a given day. The infielder is hitting .360/.374/.500 (145 wRC+) with two homers and nine steals (in nine chances) in 141 plate appearances for the Red Sox, and now he’s playing third base pretty much everyday with Will Middlebrooks on the shelf. He managed to pick up both second base and shortstop eligibility along the way.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Beckett has hardly lived up to expectations this season. While it had become apparent that he had drawn the ire of Boston fans, Beckett was beginning to have the same effect on his fantasy owners. With the trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Beckett’s fortunes should be on the rise. As our own Eno Sarris pointed out, there are many reasons to think Beckett will improve out West. With the playoffs quickly approaching, Beckett could become a useful fantasy asset again.

Read the rest of this entry »

The trade, as it stands now, is Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Dodgers for Jerry Sands, James Loney, Ivan DeJesus, Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa. We’ll have plenty of in-depth analysis over the coming days, but fantasy is often about speed, so let’s try to break down the “blink” style fantasy implications.

Read the rest of this entry »