Archive for starting pitchers

Last week I looked at a few underrated and overrated position player prospects. This week I wanted to follow that up by doing the same thing with some pitching prospects. The rule with prospects is always caveat emptor as they can’t typically be counted on for consistent production or performance. Still, “hitting” on a few helpful guys your league opponents didn’t expect to be useful can lead your team to fantasy glory.

Remember that these players are being evaluated entirely for their 2013 usefulness, without regard to keeper or dynasty implications.

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More often than not, when a pitcher crosses over from the American League to the National League, he usually finds a little more success than if he were crossing over the other way. Aside from the simple fact of replacing a designated hitter with a light-hitting pitcher in the lineup, there are other nuances, such as simple pitch selection, that usually favor the former AL hurler. But scrolling down Zach Sanders’ Starting Pitcher End of Season Rankings all the way to number 94, you’ll find an exception in Royals’ starter Jeremy Guthrie. He basically crossed over twice in 2012 and in both cases, bucked the stereotype. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Giants won the World Series in 2012, there were a number of contributors at whom to point when fans were looking for someone to thank. Buster Posey was an absolute beast in the second half, Sergio Romo stood tall when closing out games and even Tim Lincecum deserved a healthy bit of gratitude for his relief work during the playoffs. But for me, it was Matt Cain who deserved most of the accolades. From his lights-out start of the season to his perfect game in June, over a minor July speed bump, and into an August recovery for the stretch-run, Cain put the team on his back and carried them for the first half until the rest of the team picked it up after the All Star break and then helped them finish of the National League in style.  He was, without questions, the workhorse the Giants needed him to be. Read the rest of this entry »

Sticking with Zach Sanders’ Starting Pitcher End of Season Rankings and Diamondbacks pitchers who disappointed me during the 2012 season, we scroll on down the number 45 on the list, Ian Kennedy. Coming into the season, there figured to be be a certain degree of regression from his absolutely outstanding 2011 season, but while I was looking for a slight stumble backwards, Kennedy looked like he got shoved so hard in the chest that he fell all the way back to 2010. Just one year removed from Cy Young contention, Kennedy looks like he’s right back where he started. Read the rest of this entry »

Prior to the start of the 2012 season when we did our 10 Bold Predictions, I had high hopes for Trevor Cahill. He had taken a step backwards in his third full season with Oakland, but had several things working in his favor that had me thinking there were bigger and better things on the horizon for him. After all, he was just 24 years old, a ground-ball pitcher whose strikeout rate had increased each season, and now he was headed to the National League to pitch in a notoriously weak-hitting division filled with pitcher-friendly ballparks. Maybe his new home was hitter-friendly, but there seemed to be enough working in his favor that would counter that. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned and left me wondering if there was any more upside to Cahill or if we had reached the ceiling and the 48th spot in which he inhabits on Zach Sanders’ Starting Pitcher End of Season Rankings was as high as he’d go. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite apparent mutual interest in a return engagement at Target Field, Scott Baker has parted company with the Twins and will head six hours southeast on I-90/94 through the vast, untrodden wilds of Wisconsin to Wrigley Field after signing a one-year deal with the Cubs. The one-year part of the deal makes complete sense as Baker missed his last chance at a huge free agent deal because of Tommy John surgery in March of last year, but is Wrigley really the best place for him to recover his value? Additionally, is one year enough for Baker to get back to the pay scale he’s looking for?

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Streaming pitchers here at the end of the season can often be a treacherous affair.  You scout the pitcher, you check the match-ups, you pore over the data and then you bite your lip, close your eyes and pray that you didn’t make a mistake.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes…it rains.  But the bottom line is that the risk involved is usually pretty high because, well, if these guys that you’re sifting through were really that good, they wouldn’t be sitting out on your waiver wire here in mid-September.  So why not tap into some new blood?  Cast aside the tired, lower-tiered starters with their low-5.00 ERA and grab yourself something young; something fresh and exciting.  Get yourself some Jake Odorizzi. Read the rest of this entry »

Every year, at about this time, I like to go back and check in on certain strategies employed on draft day and see how they have served me thus far.  Is it a strategy worth employing again?  What tweaks to it are needed for the next time, if indeed there is a next time?  One strategy in particular, the one that seems to always spur the most discussion, that deserves to be re-visited is the one where I, because of the incredible depth at pitching, draft a beast-like offense first and wait until closer to the middle rounds to pick up my starters.  Nothing but bats to start things off and somewhere around the 10th or 11th round, I grab my first pitcher. Read the rest of this entry »

So a buddy of mine calls me the other day in need of a 10th team for his home league.  Apparently someone dropped out at the last minute due to work obligations and he needed to find someone competitive to fill the slot.  Shallow league, very basic.  10 teams, mixed, 5×5 roto, standard snake draft.  Happily, I obliged and decided that this would be a great opportunity to see just how long I could wait on drafting a starting pitcher while still maintaining a competitive staff in the league.

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For the first three seasons of his career, Wandy Rodriguez was nothing more than your average, run-of-the-mill starting pitcher.  He had an ERA that ranged from 4.58 to 5.64, a HR/FB rate perpetually above 10%, his walk rate was too high and his strikeout rate was too low.  There was very little worthwhile contribution from him to the fantasy baseball community.  But then Wandy turned a corner in his fourth full season and from there, began to blossom into a pitcher of value.  Sure, he had his explosive moments on the hill, but overall, he settled in nicely as one of the Astros more consistent and reliable starters.  His ERA stayed below 4.00, the home runs came down, and he started posting a K/9 that was steadily just above 8.00 each season.  However, last season there was regression across the board save for the ERA and suddenly the numbers were starting to look horribly similar to his early years, including a horrific 13.0% HR/FB rate.  Now, with the Astros moving to the American League West soon, the question is whether or not Wandy can right the ship or have we seen the best that he has to offer?

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