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Showing posts with label Chris Tillman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Tillman. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

HIRED ARMS: Don't Lose Touch

Felipe M

With two weeks all ready wrapped up in the 2013 MLB season, we take a look at possible options to fill out your pitching rotation from the waiver wire.  By now, all the hottest pitchers should have been picked up by now, but baseball is a cyclical game and what's hot today, may be cold tomorrow and vice-versa.  So the following is the ultimate "buy-low" list of pitchers.

The criteria: we will only look at pitchers that are owned in less than 50% of CBS fantasy baseball leagues.  We're not advocating that you go pick up these pitchers immediately, but may be worth a look if you're in dire needs for arms or just to scout for a future date.

Bobby Parnell--New York Mets--54% owned: I know I said less than 50%, but Parnell is worth special mention.  He had a great spring and he really hasn't pitched terribly this year.  His issue is that he only has one save, but it's not his fault as the Mets have been winning their games in deciding fashion.  But I don't believe the Mets can continue to win in this way as I believe Parnell will have to be utilize more as this team just looks like a squad that will have to claw and fight their way through a lot of one-run victories.  He has yet to give up a walk and that alone should pique your interest.

Mike Fiers and Felix Doubront--43% and 46% respectively: The main issue with both of these pitchers is that both of their teams are in no need of using a 5th starter for the time being.  And although Fiers did not look very good in his first start, Doubront actually pitched a decent game in his lone start this season.  Both of these pitchers were projected to have decent years and are worth monitoring as soon as their respective teams put them back in regular rotation.

Dillon Gee--Mets--37%: We've mentioned Gee's struggles before, but I'm still confident that he'll be able to bounce back and eventually help your starting rotation.  

Chris Tillman--Baltimore Orioles--32%: Tillman has struggled with control and command, but he's still worth monitoring because of his 2012 season.  He's also struck out one batter per inning so far.  

J.A. Happ and Ubaldo Jimenez--47%: Both pitchers have registered a strike out per inning and both have struggled with control.  The difference between the two is that Happ has found ways to earn wins, while Jimenez has given up a base-hit per inning.  Happ seems to be in the better situation, but even Jimenez, with a little bit of luck, can turn his season around and is worth keeping tabs on.

Edwin Jackson--Chicago Cubs--50%: We've mentioned how unpredictable, but lights out Jackson can be.  Unfortunately, he's been struggling with control and command issues, but has a K/9 of 11.04.  As the weather warms up, I can't help but be optimistic about Jackson's season turning around.

Wade Davis--K.C. Roayals--31%: We've been waiting for Davis to live up to the hype bestowed on him back in his Tampa days.  Nothing about his current counting stats show any signs of hope, but his reputation alone gives him another chance of redemption for this season.

Not an impressive list of pitchers, but when you're digging through the rubble, you try to look at the bright side of things.  The common theme for these pitchers is that they're all known commodities and they've all had, at the very least, minor success in their recent past.  

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Sunday, March 10, 2013

MAKING THE PITCH: Baltimore Orioles

Buck Showalter will have to dig deep into his bag of tricks to get the Orioles
to repeat their unforeseen performance from last season.
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos)



Felipe M

We take a look at the projected starting rotations and closer situations of every MLB team.  Of course, this will come from a fantasy perspective.  All cited stats are based on 2013 projections. 


The Baltimore Orioles are next.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION
  1. Jason Hammel
    • Good: Shows a good knack for strikeouts (6.95 K/9) and can limit his walks and homer runs to respectable, low levels.
    • Bad: WHIP of 1.27 makes him a pitcher not worth grabbing too early.  He's also the "ace" of an Orioles' team that might not be able to repeat what they did in 2012 so wins might be harder to come by.
  2. Wei-Yin Chen
    • Good: Respectable 2.71 K/BB.  Finesse pitcher that won't hurt himself with too many walks.
    • Bad: Can be very hittable, but worst of all, playing in Baltimore, his 1.20 HR/9 will drive you crazy.
  3. Chris Tillman
    • Good: Had a solid year in 2012 and adequate K/BB of 2.18 shows potential to repeat similar performance.   
    • Bad: 8.84 H/9 is similar to Chen's H/9 of 8.81 and boosts WHIP to 1.34.  Just like Chen,  HR/9 of 1.14 shows his issues with the long ball, especially at Camden Yards.
  4. Miguel Gonzalez
    • Good: Has similar numbers as his teammates.  2.21 K/BB might make him an adequate pitcher in any league.  
    • Bad: Despite having a relatively low H/9 of 8.36, his WHIP is still at 1.27, damaged by a BB/9 of 3.05.  It's not too high, but when you add his 8+ H/9, that made his WHIP too high.  HR/9 of 1.18 is not too high, but considering where he pitches his home games, that number might prove to be higher.
  5. Dylan Bundy
    • Good: #1 Orioles' prospect.  May not get the job out of spring training, but is worth monitoring, especially when you consider the other pitchers vying for that #5 spot: Bundy is simply the most intriguing.  7.53 K/9 makes him an attractive option.
    • Bad: Control, just like many young pitchers, will be a major issue (3.49 BB/9).  Might not start right away in the Majors and judging by his age, 20, might not be called up this season either.  But potential is very intriguing and the Orioles have proven to bring up prospects if they believe they can help them win games now.
CLOSERS
  1. Jim Johnson
    • Good: Very good control (1.93 BB/9).  WHIP of 1.10 and HR/9 of .51 indicates that he won't hurt himself too much despite being more of a finesse closer.  
    • Bad: 5.79 K/9 is what keeps him from being an elite closer despite showing that he can rack up saves.  You don't have to be on a winning team to be an effective fantasy closer, but to save 50+ saves again, the Orioles have to repeat their lucky, late-inning heroics again.
FANTASY ADVICE

It's really interesting how teams somehow find similar pitchers to fill out their starting rotation.  So far, the Braves rotation has looked the best in this review.  The Orioles rotation is nowhere near the Braves.  What they lack in skill and dominance, they make up by having four starters that are not ashamed to be finesse pitchers that do a good job in limiting their walks and strikeout enough batters to be somewhat relevant in fantasy leagues.  

However, because of their pitching styles, some hit balls might fall for base-hits.  But the big concern with this club is a propensity to give up homeruns, especially when one considers that they play at Camden.  Only Hammel would be considered someone you can plug into your middle rotation.  The other starters might be good to fill out the rest of your backend.