Jason Marquis & Martin Maldonado: Deep League Wire

Cursing at the injury Gods already? Yeah you are. Let’s see what your free agent pool might offer in your deep league.

Jason Marquis | SP CIN | CBS 4% Owned

Don’t laugh. I was somehow able to contain myself enough to type his name in this here column. You see, this is not your mother’s Jason Marquis. This is seemingly version 2.0. Through three starts and 15.0 innings, Marquis has struck out 21 batters for a 29.6% strikeout rate. 21 punch outs. 15 innings. Jason Marquis. Let that sink in. He of the 13.5% career strikeout rate. He’s never posted a mark above 17.6% in his career. Small sample size, schmall hample ties. This cannot mean nothing. Has he ever posted this strong a strikeout rate in any three game stretch throughout his entire career?! Research project request!

Because his ERA now stands at 7.20, I’m fairly confident that absolutely nobody realizes what is happening here. Back in 2013, when he last pitched in the Majors, Marquis apparently moved away from his changeup and started throwing a splitter. This is according to the BIS data, as PITCHf/x continued to classify the pitch as the changeup, so no change in repertoire. But this year, BIS suggests he has upped the usage of this new split-finger pitch to about 22% (versus about 12% in 2013, if it’s truly different than the change). PITCHf/x shows his changeup usage jumping to 23% as well, with a drop in velocity, suggesting that it is likely a different pitch, the splitter.

Why is Marquis throwing the splitter important? Because it has been ridiculously good. In his first two games, it has generated a near 32% SwStk%! It’s a rather small sample, of course, but 44 pitches isn’t six. His slider has been more effective as well, generating an 18.2% SwStk%. The slider has always been respectable, so this doesn’t seem outrageously fluky.

Assuming this really is a new pitch for Marquis, this seems to be a truly new version of him. A strikeout version. Obviously, we have to assume regression. But he’s making a strong argument that we can completely throw out his history when trying to project his performance over the rest of the season. That makes him more than just a laugh in deeper leagues and…wait for it…someone to monitor and consider for mixed leagues as well.

Martin Maldonado | C MIL | 1% Owned

Man it has been a tough start for owners of several top tier catchers. The latest casualty of the injury bug is Jonathan Lucroy, who will be out for four to six weeks. That’s a boon to Maldonado’s fantasy value as the former backup now slides into the primary catcher role. The 28-year-old has collected about a full season’s worth of plate appearances, so it’s nice and easy to see how he could contribute.

With 16 homers in his career, a 40%+ fly ball rate his last two seasons and a slightly above average HR/FB rate, he should offer some power. And when deep diving for a catcher, you want them to at least provide some positive value somewhere. Of course, he offsets that with his poor strikeout rate and a batted ball distribution that is good for power, but batting for batting average. He supplements his fly ball tendency with too many pop-ups and a below average line drive rate. With little speed, it’s then no surprise that his career BABIP sits at just .275.

For those scrambling for a catcher, and I know many of you are, he’s worth a look. Over a small sample like a month, BABIP fluctuates so much that you could largely ignore the potential for a weak batting average. Enjoy a homer here and there and the handful of runs batted in and cross your fingers for some BABIP luck.