MAKING THE PITCH: New York Yankees

Felipe

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.  

Please take a look at the Kansas City Royals' pitching staff.  

The New York Yankees are up next. 

As you will see, missing from the list is Phil Hughes.  He will be starting the season on the DL.

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/A
CC Sabathia	Yankees	3.67	8.60	2.34	8.35	1.19	0.81
Andy Pettitte	Yankees	2.84	7.42	2.61	8.38	1.22	0.89
Hiroki Kuroda	Yankees	3.29	7.10	2.16	8.87	1.23	1.01
Ivan Nova	Yankees	2.60	7.40	2.85	8.90	1.31	1.10
David Phelps	Yankees	2.76	7.69	2.78	9.00	1.31	1.06
Mariano Rivera	Yankees	5.00	8.18	1.64	7.20	0.98	0.82

CC Sabathia has been more concerned with his health than anything else this spring.  It's understandable as he underwent elbow surgery, but should be ready for the 2013 season.  He is usually one of the more durable starting pitchers in baseball.  I had him ranked 17th on my starting pitchers' list.  

I ended up drafting Andy Pettitte as his projections are actually pretty good.  Unfortunately, age will play a factor with him, but he's worth a risk, especially late in the draft, although I had him ranked 18th on my 2nd-tier SP list.

Hiroki Kuroda is one of the most undervalued pitchers.  He doesn't do anything spectacular, but he's been one of the more consistent pitchers since importing from Japan. Unfortunately, just like Pettitte, he is getting up there in age, but clearly he knows how to pitch at this level.

Ivan Nova and David Phelps benefit from pitching on a strong Yankees' team that can generate offense.  I think Nova is a fluke, but despite some issues with command, he can still post some nice strikeout totals.  Phelps is replacing Hughes on the rotation.  Should be interesting to see if Phelps pitches well enough to stay in the rotation all season long.  

Mariano Rivera is another pitcher aging--supposed to retire after this season.  Rivera still has enough left in him to go through one more year.  He was having another great year last season before he was lost for the season with a knee injury.

More MLB content is available here. 

MARDI GRAS MADNESS: Balls Out

This team will have to depend on bullpen help,
including the great Mariano Rivera.
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann)

Felipe M

Before I move on to the next team, I probably should explain a little something about this league.  Mardi Gras Madness began back in 2002 as a fantasy baseball keeper league.  Currently, we keep 7 players from the season before and hold an annual, 15-round draft.  Out of the 22 players in our roster, we need to start 9 hitters (C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF, DH) and 7 pitchers (any combination of SP and RP).  It is a  weekly, head-2-head, fantasy points league.  The team with the highest score at the end of a given week, wins that game.

The previous team I reviewed was Halladay Holiday. 

The next team we'll review finish the 2012 season with the best record and most points in the league, but was eliminated by yours truly:

EAST DIVISION—BALLS OUT (out of Southern California)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, David Wright, Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes; This team is stacked!  They also have Brian McCann waiting to come back from injury.  In the meantime, Alex Avila will take over duties at the backstop.  Even Melky Cabrera, who is a bust on many publications’ lists, can still come back from suspension and produce decent numbers this season.

Dislike: Recently acquired Mark Trumbo is a headache waiting to happen as his all-or-nothing approach might work, but in most weeks his strikeouts will lead to a lot of low scores on a weekly basis. 

Look Out For: MiguelSano is supposed to be the next Miguel Cabrera. 

BENCH: Vernon Wells might see his value increase a bit with the Yankees, but something tells me he won’t be on this squad for very long. 

PITCHING

Like: Jered Weaver is a great fit for this team, but he might have to carry the starters on his own. 

Dislike: Because of a high dependence on closers, the only other starters on this team are Mark Buehrle, Julio Teheran, and Tommy Hanson.  Buehrle pitches batting practice at times, Teheran, although had Braves staff marveling at his spring, is still a young, unpredictable pitcher, and Hanson’s walk rate will drive this team nuts.

Look Out For: DylanBundy has been getting hype all offseason long.  Also, look out for Ryan Madson as he should be ready sometime during the season and help this team rack up the saves.

Only a matter of time before Carlos Marmol's days
as a closer are over
(photo courtesy of Sharon P. Mancia)

BULLPEN: Because of Madson’s injury, this team went on and took my advice as they handcuffed him to Ernesto Frieri creating another satisfied customer.  Joe Nathan, despite my concerns, is still a solid closer.  Mariano Rivera is still the best in history.  Rafael Betancourt has proven himself as a dependable closer, but there’s rumors spreading that he will eventually become a contender’s setup man.  Carlos Marmol is terrible.

PREDICTION: Even for a fantasy team, this squad’s batting lineup is like some sort of Dream Team.  However, getting all of those top-tier position players forced this club to depend on closers to make up the majority of their pitching staff.  For every good closer, he went out and acquired shaky 9^th inning men with the only dependable SP, Weaver.  In our league’s history, depending on a pitching staff full of closers is a questionable proposition and might end up costing this squad a shot at repeating as league champions.  

More fantasy baseball is available here.