The Change — Updating Eno Sarris’ Ranks
Time to update the pitching ranks, as we’ve received more information and depth charts are starting to sort themselves out.
There are velocity changes to report. Jeff Samardzija hasn’t averaged 93 in a start yet, so that’s not good. Scott Kazmir is under 90 for a couple starts now, also not good — but it turns out those were cutters! So maybe he’s fine. Doug Fister is up! Around 90. Jacob deGrom was down to 92 in the last start, but was fine the one before, so that’s less worrisome. Garrett Richards is up! He was always up. So is Dylan Bundy though. He probably doesn’t have a starting role, though. Cody Anderson is up and now he looks like Matt Harvey. Adam Conley is up and I still like him, now a little more.
There are injuries of course! The Dodgers have most of them, but even the guys coming up behind are injured, and the group at the back isn’t very exciting to begin with. Matt Cain’s injury might push him back enough to give Chris Heston a shot to start the season at least. Or maybe not. Surely there will be a few more before spring ends.
And then there are depth chart movements that have already been made. Trevor May is a reliever. Erik Johnson was sent down. Brandon Maurer is a reliever, meaning Colin Rea and Drew Pomeranz and Brandon Morrow are fighting for two spots.
Throw them all in the blender and update your ranks. Eno’s Ranks, 2.0.

| Eno Sarris | Player | ES 2/16 | RG 3/8 | Diff% | Tier |
| 1 | Clayton Kershaw | 1 | 1 | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | Max Scherzer | 2 | 2 | 100 | 1 |
| 3 | Chris Sale | 3 | 3 | 100 | 1 |
| 4 | David Price | 4 | 4 | 100 | 1 |
| 5 | Jake Arrieta | 5 | 5 | 100 | 1 |
| 6 | Madison Bumgarner | 7 | 6 | 100 | 1 |
| 7 | Matt Harvey | 9 | 8 | 114 | 1 |
| 8 | Zack Greinke | 8 | 12 | 150 | 1 |
| 9 | Stephen Strasburg | 10 | 11 | 122 | 1 |
| 10 | Jacob deGrom | 6 | 10 | 100 | 1 |
| 11 | Jose Fernandez | 11 | 9 | 82 | 1 |
| 12 | Corey Kluber | 12 | 7 | 58 | 1 |
| 13 | Chris Archer | 13 | 17 | 131 | 1 |
| 14 | Carlos Carrasco | 14 | 15 | 107 | 1 |
| 15 | Gerrit Cole | 15 | 14 | 93 | 1 |
| 16 | Noah Syndergaard | 16 | 19 | 119 | 1 |
| 17 | Felix Hernandez | 17 | 13 | 76 | 1 |
| 18 | Danny Salazar | 18 | 22 | 122 | 2 |
| 19 | Johnny Cueto | 19 | 20 | 105 | 2 |
| 20 | Jon Lester | 20 | 18 | 90 | 2 |
| 21 | Dallas Keuchel | 21 | 16 | 76 | 2 |
| 22 | Sonny Gray | 22 | 24 | 109 | 2 |
| 23 | Adam Wainwright | 25 | 29 | 126 | 2 |
| 24 | Masahiro Tanaka | 23 | 25 | 104 | 2 |
| 25 | Cole Hamels | 24 | 21 | 84 | 2 |
| 26 | Michael Wacha | 26 | 30 | 115 | 2 |
| 27 | Tyson Ross | 27 | 23 | 85 | 2 |
| 28 | Michael Pineda | 28 | 31 | 111 | 2 |
| 29 | Francisco Liriano | 29 | 26 | 90 | 2 |
| 30 | Garrett Richards | 30 | 27 | 90 | 2 |
| 31 | Marcus Stroman | 33 | 28 | 90 | 2 |
| 32 | Yordano Ventura | 32 | 39 | 122 | 2 |
| 33 | Raisel Iglesias | 34 | 47 | 142 | 2 |
| 34 | Carlos Martinez | 36 | 33 | 97 | 2 |
| 35 | Jose Quintana | 38 | 32 | 91 | 2 |
| 36 | Drew Smyly | 37 | 46 | 128 | 2 |
| 37 | James Shields | 39 | 40 | 108 | 3 |
| 38 | Luis Severino | 42 | 53 | 139 | 3 |
| 39 | John Lackey | 43 | 45 | 115 | 3 |
| 40 | Patrick Corbin | 46 | 51 | 128 | 3 |
| 41 | Justin Verlander | 48 | 42 | 102 | 3 |
| 42 | Steven Matz | 41 | 55 | 131 | 3 |
| 43 | Taijuan Walker | 44 | 36 | 84 | 3 |
| 44 | Lance McCullers | 40 | 48 | 109 | 3 |
| 45 | Yu Darvish | 35 | 50 | 111 | 3 |
| 46 | Wei-Yin Chen | 45 | 34 | 74 | 3 |
| 47 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 47 | 38 | 81 | 3 |
| 48 | Jordan Zimmermann | 53 | 43 | 90 | 3 |
| 49 | Carlos Rodon | 49 | 63 | 129 | 3 |
| 50 | Jake Odorizzi | 50 | 35 | 70 | 3 |
| 51 | Collin McHugh | 51 | 41 | 80 | 3 |
| 52 | Mike Fiers | 54 | 60 | 115 | 3 |
| 53 | Jaime Garcia | 56 | 67 | 126 | 3 |
| 54 | Kevin Gausman | 55 | 64 | 119 | 3 |
| 55 | Shelby Miller | 57 | 56 | 102 | 3 |
| 56 | Anthony DeSclafani | 58 | 71 | 127 | 3 |
| 57 | Kenta Maeda | 62 | 75 | 132 | 3 |
| 58 | Jeff Samardzija | 31 | 37 | 64 | 3 |
| 59 | Scott Kazmir | 52 | 44 | 75 | 4 |
| 60 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 59 | 76 | 127 | 4 |
| 61 | Jason Hammel | 60 | 58 | 95 | 4 |
| 62 | Gio Gonzalez | 61 | 49 | 79 | 4 |
| 63 | Aaron Nola | 63 | 61 | 97 | 4 |
| 64 | Joe Ross | 66 | 69 | 108 | 4 |
| 65 | Anibal Sanchez | 65 | 70 | 108 | 4 |
| 66 | Andrew Cashner | 67 | 57 | 86 | 4 |
| 67 | Nathan Eovaldi | 69 | 83 | 124 | 4 |
| 68 | Kyle Hendricks | 70 | 54 | 79 | 4 |
| 69 | Jerad Eickhoff | 78 | 97 | 141 | 4 |
| 70 | Julio Teheran | 64 | 52 | 74 | 4 |
| 71 | Ian Kennedy | 68 | 62 | 87 | 4 |
| 72 | Clay Buchholz | 72 | 59 | 82 | 4 |
| 73 | Hyun-Jin Ryu | 71 | 90 | 123 | 4 |
| 74 | Matt Moore | 98 | 95 | 128 | 4 |
| 75 | Rick Porcello | 74 | 73 | 97 | 4 |
| 76 | Nate Karns | 77 | 93 | 122 | 4 |
| 77 | Andrew Heaney | 75 | 72 | 94 | 4 |
| 78 | Jesse Hahn | 84 | 87 | 112 | 4 |
| 79 | Kyle Gibson | 97 | 78 | 99 | 4 |
| 80 | Alex Wood | 76 | 81 | 101 | 5 |
| 81 | Kris Medlen | 89 | 102 | 126 | 5 |
| 82 | Jimmy Nelson | 81 | 66 | 80 | 5 |
| 83 | Vincent Velasquez | 102 | 120 | 145 | 5 |
| 84 | Rubby de la Rosa | 90 | 99 | 118 | 5 |
| 85 | Mike Leake | 82 | 68 | 80 | 5 |
| 86 | Jake Peavy | 83 | 85 | 99 | 5 |
| 87 | Hector Santiago | 85 | 92 | 106 | 5 |
| 88 | Trevor Bauer | 86 | 89 | 101 | 5 |
| 89 | Marco Estrada | 88 | 74 | 83 | 5 |
| 90 | Rich Hill | 73 | 65 | 72 | 5 |
| 91 | Adam Conley | 110 | #N/A | #N/A | 5 |
| 92 | Derek Holland | 88 | 84 | 91 | 5 |
| 93 | Phil Hughes | 91 | 77 | 83 | 5 |
| 94 | Erasmo Ramirez | 92 | 86 | 91 | 5 |
| 95 | Wade Miley | 111 | 82 | 86 | 5 |
| 96 | Robbie Ray | 95 | 96 | 100 | 5 |
| 97 | CC Sabathia | 94 | 112 | 115 | 5 |
| 98 | Edinson Volquez | 96 | 80 | 82 | 5 |
| 99 | Ervin Santana | 99 | 88 | 89 | 5 |
| 100 | Chris Bassitt | 103 | 132 | 132 | 5 |
| 101 | Matt Shoemaker | 116 | 126 | 125 | 5 |
| 102 | Aaron Sanchez | n/a | #N/A | #N/A | |
| 103 | Henry Owens | 104 | 147 | 101 | |
| 104 | Brandon Finnegan | 105 | 130 | 101 | |
| 105 | John Lamb | 79 | 131 | 125 | |
| 106 | Lucas Giolito | 133 | 127 | 125 | |
| 107 | Jose Berrios | 134 | 109 | 125 | |
| 108 | Nicholas Tropeano | 101 | #N/A | #N/A | |
| 109 | Chris Tillman | 106 | 101 | 97 | |
| 110 | Homer Bailey | 108 | 135 | 98 | |
| 111 | Chase Anderson | 93 | 128 | 84 | |
| 112 | Chris Heston | 107 | 117 | 96 | |
| 113 | Matt Cain | 109 | 137 | 96 | |
| 114 | Tyler Duffey | 112 | 140 | 98 | |
| 115 | Jonathan Gray | 113 | 108 | 98 | |
| 116 | Brandon McCarthy | 114 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 117 | Alex Cobb | 115 | 122 | 98 | |
| 118 | Juan Nicasio | n/a | #N/A | n/a | |
| 119 | Daniel Norris | 117 | 115 | 98 | |
| 120 | Zack Wheeler | 118 | 123 | 98 | |
| 121 | Mat Latos | 119 | 105 | 98 | |
| 122 | Drew Hutchison | 100 | 119 | 82 | |
| 123 | Robbie Erlin | 137 | 129 | 111 | |
| 124 | Cody Anderson | 196 | #N/A | 158 | |
| 125 | Kendall Graveman | 139 | 134 | 111 | |
| 126 | Jesse Chavez | 122 | 111 | 97 | |
| 127 | Roenis Elias | 123 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 128 | J.A. Happ | 124 | 79 | 97 | |
| 129 | Bartolo Colon | 126 | 110 | 98 | |
| 130 | Chad Bettis | 127 | 133 | 98 | |
| 131 | Chris Young | 151 | 116 | 115 | |
| 132 | Jorge de la Rosa | 128 | 106 | 97 | |
| 133 | Drew Pomeranz | 129 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 134 | Sean Manaea | 154 | #N/A | 115 | |
| 135 | Yovani Gallardo | 130 | 104 | 96 | |
| 136 | Doug Fister | 177 | #N/A | 130 | |
| 137 | C.J. Wilson | 131 | 98 | 96 | |
| 138 | Mike Foltynewicz | 132 | 138 | 96 | |
| 139 | Zachary Davies | 135 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 140 | Jeremy Hellickson | 120 | 107 | 86 | |
| 141 | Martin Perez | 136 | 118 | 96 | |
| 142 | Jarred Cosart | 138 | 145 | 97 | |
| 143 | Josh Tomlin | 140 | 103 | 98 | |
| 144 | Archie Bradley | 141 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 145 | Tyler Lyons | 142 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 146 | Charlie Morton | 143 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 147 | Colin Rea | 174 | #N/A | 118 | |
| 148 | Tom Koehler | 144 | 136 | 97 | |
| 149 | Marco Gonzales | 145 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 150 | Ubaldo Jimenez | 146 | 94 | 97 | |
| 151 | Julio Urias | 180 | #N/A | 119 | |
| 152 | Adam Warren | 147 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 153 | Taylor Jungmann | 148 | 139 | 97 | |
| 154 | Joe Kelly | 149 | 143 | 97 | |
| 155 | Tyler Glasnow | 150 | 144 | 97 | |
| 156 | Brett Anderson | 80 | 125 | 51 | |
| 157 | Dan Straily | 170 | #N/A | 108 | |
| 158 | Brandon Morrow | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 159 | Zach Lee | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| 160 | Yusmeiro Petit | 152 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 161 | Blake Snell | 191 | #N/A | 119 | |
| 162 | Shane Greene | 153 | #N/A | 94 | |
| 163 | Matt Boyd | 155 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 164 | Frankie Montas | 165 | #N/A | 101 | |
| 165 | Tanner Roark | 156 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 166 | James Paxton | 178 | 121 | 107 | |
| 167 | Michael Lorenzen | 157 | #N/A | 94 | |
| 168 | Matthew Wisler | 158 | 124 | 94 | |
| 169 | Jon Niese | 159 | 100 | 94 | |
| 170 | Jered Weaver | 160 | 141 | 94 | |
| 171 | Dylan Bundy | 161 | #N/A | 94 | |
| 172 | R.A. Dickey | 162 | 91 | 94 | |
| 173 | Jameson Taillon | 163 | #N/A | 94 | |
| 174 | Miguel Gonzalez | 164 | 149 | 94 | |
| 175 | Jeff Locke | 166 | 113 | 95 | |
| 176 | Vidal Nuno | 167 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 177 | Matt Garza | 168 | 148 | 95 | |
| 178 | Tyler Skaggs | 169 | 142 | 95 | |
| 179 | Mike Bolsinger | n/a | #N/A | n/a | |
| 180 | Ryan Weber | 172 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 181 | David Phelps | 173 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 182 | Danny Duffy | 121 | 114 | 66 | |
| 183 | Trevor May | 125 | 150 | 68 | |
| 184 | Williams Perez | 175 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 185 | Henderson Alvarez | 176 | #N/A | 95 | |
| 186 | Mark Buehrle | 179 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 187 | Carlos Frias | 198 | #N/A | 106 | |
| 188 | Kyle Lohse | 181 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 189 | Jordan Lyles | 182 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 190 | Wily Peralta | 183 | 146 | 96 | |
| 191 | Scott Feldman | 184 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 192 | Ryan Vogelsong | 185 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 193 | Alfredo Simon | 186 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 194 | Aaron Harang | 187 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 195 | Justin Masterson | 188 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 196 | Colby Lewis | 189 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 197 | Tommy Milone | 190 | #N/A | 96 | |
| 198 | Ivan Nova | 192 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 199 | Erik Johnson | 193 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 200 | Brett Oberholtzer | 194 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 201 | Ricky Nolasco | 195 | #N/A | 97 | |
| 202 | John Danks | 197 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 203 | Manny Banuelos | 199 | #N/A | 98 | |
| 204 | Tyler Matzek | 200 | #N/A | 98 |
With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.
Love the velocity info, Eno! Where can we find this? Or do you just scour through write-ups from beat reporters and the like?
Just from watching games and twitter.
Is there a chance to get a downloadable version of this?
copy paste into excel works pretty well…
Thanks for the ranks Eno! Been meaning to ask this question for a long time, but now that it’s more relevant to me, I’ll go ahead. Just drafted Tanaka for $8 in a standard 12 team 5×5 mixed league roto (Yahoo!). I wasn’t targeting him at all but I just assumed he’d go higher. Now I find myself regretting the pick. That said, I don’t understand why he’s so high on your (and everyone else’s) rankings. I don’t get the appeal.
He’s never started more than 28 games (including Japan). So his realistic best case scenario is 28 starts, as you can be sure the Yanks will give him extra rest every opportunity they get. He’s also probably a top 5 injury risk in all of baseball. I really think the odds of him making it through the season without taking at least a month off via a DL stint is around 50%, probably less.
And if everything goes right health wise, he’s still no ace. He has serious HR problems and plays in the HR happy AL East. His K% is good but not great. His ERA is probably average to slightly above. He doesn’t pitch long in games which limits his opportunity for Ws. The one thing he has going for him is a good WHIP, which can be kind of fickle.
Anyway, I’d appreciate your take on him as I’d much prefer Hamels, Wacha, Ross, Liriano, Richards, etc.
We haven’t seen enough years to believe that he will give up 15% HR/FB when the rest of the league gives up 10%. Even his first year number (.99) wouldn’t be as much of a problem as last year, and he doesn’t have such a bad fastball that he should have a HR/FB 50% worse than the league average.
Tanaka has the ninth best swinging strike rate in the league since he came in (starters, 250 IP). and the 11th best strikeouts minus walk rate. Those things are way more sticky year to year than home run rate, and way better than anyone on your list (Hamels is closest at 19th in K-BB).
As for injury risky, Ross has terrible mechanics and has been pegged as an injury risk due to those mechanics and his slider usage, Liriano once couldn’t get through a season to save his life, Wacha has a shoulder injury in his recent past, and Richards blew up his knee and has one good season on his resume. It’s everywhere.
As for Hamels, sure. He’s one lower. Depending on my first guy, I might pick Hamels over Tanaka second. There’s obviously a little more risk with Tanaka. But the upside is great.
Alright, makes sense. Thanks for the analysis
Great info, as always Eno. I’m interested in your thoughts on a couple guys in the 80’s: Rubby de la Rosa and Vincent Velasquez. A good amount of data that I’ve looked at suggests Rubby may be ready to breakout, but his BB numbers are concerning – wondering what your POV is on him. As for Velasquez, just wondering if you think he sticks in the rotation all year, or ends up in the ‘pen. Thanks!
I’d rather have VV because that Rubby command is terrible. I do think he’ll be able to fake going inside enough to make the change work, and he has good stuff, but minus command. VV doesn’t have as bad command and has a good selection of pitches. He has to beat out only Adam Morgan for the fifth starter role in Philly, so I gave him a good rank based on the fact that I think he’ll win that battle.
I’m a Braves fan desperately seeking something to look forward to this year. Are these changes based on the updated velocity data? Just wondering why the drop for Teheran.
For me it was actually a would you rather game that he kept losing. I don’t like that he’s not using his changeup as much any more and he suddenly looks like a two-pitch pitcher with less gas.
Eno,
Thanks so much for the great list. I have a question for you on a few of the big name prospects (Giolito, Berrios, Urias, Glasnow).
I know there is always big uncertainty on how these players will develop or how much opportunity will be given them. I always thought they might be rated higher simply based on half a season of their upside would be much more valuable than a full season of a player in the same range. I understand the pitchers in the 100+ range have a lot more value in the deeper league than a more standard league. But I just wanted to hear your thoughts on how you rank the young guns. Also, what your upside would be for the 4 I mentioned above for 2016.
Thanks for your great work.
Guys like Snell and Urias I just don’t see getting even 50 IP this year. The teams will use them sparingly, I feel. Gio and Berrios are closer, but even them I see teams pulling the July trick at the very least and keeping them around 100 IP. You would never do it, but what rank would you give a guy like Anibal Sanchez in 100 innings? Because that would be a great outcome for a young pitcher. So I might not have a lot of shares of those guys in redrafts, but i just don’t prefer to draft guys that will sit on my bench for months. I want to get information about my players quickly so I can move on. Adam Conley will tell us, with MLB PFx data and results, if we should hold on to him. Quickly!
I see you moved Matt Moore up the list a decent amount from last time. I think you made some unfavorable comments about him during one of the podcasts. Is this bump up over spring performance, and could you elaborate what your current view of Moore’s prospects are?
Someone convinced me to look at it him harder and he did find his old velocity and rise on the fastball, so I think that’s a really good sign. And on upside, he deserved to be higher. He’s a really good final pitcher in any league.
What is an optimal area to draft Darvish? In a shallow 10 team league, his Yahoo ADP is around 150. Guys like Smyly, Corbin, and Verlander all all have similar ADP but rank higher on your list. Does a shallow league make you want to be less risk adverse?
I think he’s going to miss half the season. Teams are going with 15 month timelines now. so I’d give him about 100 IP at the very most.
Heston looking more likely to get a starting gig (at least to start – and let’s be honest, odds of Peavey & Cain both staying healthy for much of the season seem… slim), yet you drop him in rankings and now he’s well behind guys like Shoemaker, who’ve been having horrid ST and also have only a tenuous hold on a starting gig.
Just curious what you’ve seen that would drop him down instead of up?
Couple questions while we have your attention. BTW I just want to say that your love of pitching is contagious. I’m probably not the only one, but I actually love the second half of drafts when it comes to finding good pitchers.
How do you project Wacha? He had such a crazy year last season. The first couple of months he was outperforming his metrics and not striking anyone put. Then he started pitching like an ace for a couple months and really upped his K% until he finally just got lit up in September, likely from fatigue. Is there a change he made in the second half that we can believe in that hopefully he can sustain with better conditioning?
Also, in respect to Stroman,do you think he has further strike out upside and how many innings do you think they’ll let him pitch this year?
What accounted for Bassitt’s decline?
I don’t understand why Dylan Bundy is on this list. In a dynasty league, sure, I could understand that.
But Showalter and the Orioles have made it clear: under no circumstances will he make more than a handful of starts. If he can stay healthy, he’ll work in long relief. The Orioles still believe in his future and they will protect that arm.
You might as well rank Wright or Worley for starters then. Those are the the two most likely candidates to replace any of the five starters currently slated to be part of the rotation.
Also, a word in defense of ranking Tillman higher: in 2015 he made 6 starts vs. the Blue Jays. ERA was over 11.00 when facing them. Half of all the home runs he yielded last year were against the Jays. Sit him when he’s slated to pitch against the Jays and he probably won’t hurt your team. Unless of course you’re expecting a lot of flyballs to head towards Trumbo. But Rickard has a very good chance of making the club and he will replace Trumbo in late innings situations if the Orioles have a lead.
Very intrigued by Ian Kennedy in the late rounds this year – mostly because of the better defense he’ll have behind him, and the better catcher he’ll have in front of him.
Any idea why the projections aren’t giving him the big bounce-back in BABIP or WHIP I was expecting from the move to KC? they’re also giving him -4% K rate from what he put up the last 2 years… I don’t mind being on an island, but I don’t want to be there without a key piece of info.
Amazing writeup!
A couple of questions…
Word is that Bauer has added serious velocity. Any thoughts on him?
Rich Hill obviously had as dominant a four game stretch last year as there is. Any thought that he could be legit? How much of the worry is health related vs performance?
What about Kenta Maeda? Do you think the past Japanese pitchers provide good comps?
I can’t speak for Eno but I decided to take a flier on Rich Hill in the later rounds of a 16 team 12 keeper league.
Unfortunately, if you’re looking for guidance based on his spring training performance, he’s been dreadful—apparently Rich Hill has become Rich Hill again. He has walked a ton of batters and during his last start (vs. a minor league team) he hit three batters.
I can only hope that he gets on the phone to Brian Bannister, the coach in the Boston system who turned his career around, and discuss what he’s doing wrong with his mechanics. Otherwise, no apparent reason to believe he’ll repeat—or even get close to—what he did late last season.
Agreed, its been an ugly spring. Last year his first 21 IP in AAA he had 8.72BB/9. Maybe he just needs to get in the groove? I think it is a long shot, but when going for long shots at the end of the draft, why not take upside? While we don’t want to put a lot of stock on spring stats (or even four starts last year), his spring has been pretty atrocious. I watched two of his games last year and he was incredible. Obviously would love to see his perform for the A’s.
Personally I’d rather take a shot on Juan Nicasio than Rich Hill. Nicasio never had a chance in Colorado, battled injuries, and now could be the next reclamation project of the Pirates… he’s got good stuff. You can’t lean on ST stats, but what DOES matter is K/BB rate – it’s been shown to portend to how they pitch that year. Now, we’re still talking LATE pick here, but I’d take a flier on Nicasio.
As an Indians fan I get to see Bauer a lot… the kid has talent, but he hasn’t refined his approach enough yet – control issues won’t go away. Fine to take a later flier on him, but I’m not pegging him for a breakout.
If you want more info on projecting Maeda, this is a good place to go –
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/projecting-byung-ho-park-hyun-soo-kim-and-kenta-maeda/
looks like mid 3s ERA, 1.15ish WHIP and 8 K/9… pretty good
Do you buy the hype of your esteemed colleague on Cody Anderson?
On first blush, the velocity is great, but he looks to be missing swing-and-miss stuff — 4.3 K/9 isn’t very exciting. Looking at 2015, it also seems like he was buoyed by .237 BAPIP which was extremely low for the league and not in line with his MiLB numbers, though the 15% IFFB rate (if sustainable) is interesting. I just don’t see more than a guy with velocity….which isn’t enough to get by at the MLB level
What do you think about Verlander this year? Do you buy this recent 87-94 FB velo report?
Hi Eno,
Curious about two Padres you have ranked here in Erlin and Rea. I own both in a 12-team NL-only. Erlin at $10 and Rea at $8. I was leaning toward keeping Rea until I saw your rankings. I confess Erlin was just an afterthought for me because he has never impressed at the major league level. Are you seeing something in him, or are they just both pretty bad or meh pitchers?
Thanks!
Seems like your Tier 2 has expanded considerably. In a ten-team H2H, how many 1’s and 2’s should I reach for?
So you mentioned Samardzija was down in velocity, but the Spring Training velocity changes post has him up 0.8 MPH… which is it?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Jg67sqoaBgi8mWOfnUmBDr7dPtVxzwu_zijxA3DyxsI/edit#gid=0
The velocity readings for the Indians are all up – Cody Anderson +3.4 MPH, Trevor Bauer +3.1 MPH, TJ House +1.5 MPH… I wonder if the guns are hot. If so, Cody Allen (-0.9 MPH) might be in trouble