Pitching-My First Entry

Welcome everyone! This is my first post on my new blog site, and I must say that I am excited. I hope to provide valuable information to my readers, and to help them improve in their fantasy standings. The first issue that I will discuss is..........................PITCHING!



As we all know, pitching is the crown jewel of fantasy glory. Whether it comes from the bullpen or out of the starting role, just like in real life, good pitching beats good hitting every time. Fantasy victors, in most cases, rely upon a well balanced offensive attack, coupled with above average performance in the major pitching categories. So far this season, as with any other season, some of our aces and sure bets have faltered on the mound, while some surprisingly overwhelming performances have also been seen.



Firstly, lets take a look at some of the disappointments.



1)Chein-Ming Wang-What happened here? After having 19 win seasons in 2006 & 2007, Wang appeared for half of the 2008 season, with a record of 8-2. Not bad right? Wanna hear bad? 2009 has been bad. Wang is o-3 with an ERA north of 16.00. He has given up 25 runs, all earned, on 32 hits, in only 14 innings. What's even more surprising is the fact that he is still owned in over 50% of fantasy leagues. At 29 years old, Wang should be coming into his own, not getting hit more than Jose Canseco in mixed martial arts. His strikeout rate has never been high, and his ERA has never been lower than 3.63. Let me also mention that his few post season performances have been dreadful. If you are one of the 50% that still owns Wang, I would have to suggest reconsidering.

2)Brad Lidge-You've heard of the phrase "Rags to Riches." Well, Brad Lidge exemplifies the complete opposite. After going 41-0 in save oppurtunities for the world champion Phillies last year, Lidge has started this season by blowing 4 of his first twelve save attempts. He has an ERA of 7.40, and has given up 30 hits in 24 innnings. His 13 walks aren't much of a help either. However, he has converted his last five oppurtunities, and is showing signs of turning around. He also has 26 strikeouts in these 24 innnings, and these two facts should allow his owners to breathe some sigh of relief. Lidge was off to a shaky start, but is showing signs of turning it around.

3)Francisco Liriano-After going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 2006, Liriano missed the 2007 season, but bounced back in 2008 to go 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA. What has befallen the 25 year old in 2009 thusfar is anyones guess. Liriano is 2-7 with a 6.60 ERA, and fantasy owners don't know what to do with him. Frankly, neither do I.

4)Scott Kazmir-Although only 25 years old, Kazmir has been quite reliable for the past 4 seasons. Granted, we are only a third of the way through this season, but this is the first time in six years that Kazmir is allowing more hits than innings pitched. He has one more than 10 games several times already in his career, averages well over a strikeout per inning, and has a career ERA of 3.85. So we ask, why then does Scott have a record of 4-4 with a 7.69 ERA so far in 2009? I couldn't tell you, but if he and the rest of the Rays don't turn it around, they will not be returning to the postseason.

5)Daisuke Matsuzaka-Dice-K has already lost as many games in 2009 as he did in all of 2008, when he posted a record of 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. Here we encounter another unexplained phenomenon in the twilight zone of pitching. His pitch counts have been way high in 2009, and he has been issuing a larger than average amount of walks so far this season. With the nation already in crisis due to the struggles of David Ortiz, Dice-K had better improve on his 2009 numbers of 1-3 with a 7.17 ERA.

Now lets take a look at some of this seasons surprisingly impresssive performances. This isn't supposed to take away from guys like Roy Halladay, who is 9-1 right now, but we knew he was capable of that. I'm looking at guys who really opened our eyes so far this season. Let's start with none other than...........................................................

1)Zack Greinke-This guy is pitching sick right now. If you are in AL only or deeper mixed leagues, and you drafted Greinke late this year, you are loving yourself right now. In fact, you are probably doing well in your league. As you should be. Zack has been lights out, going 8-1 with a 1.10 ERA, and that's the highest it's been all year. After a few mediocre seasons, which is something to brag about when you're a Royal, with mid 3 ERA's, Greinke has really exploded. He is now a player who can control the entire game by his performance. He's only given up 62 hits and an incredible 12 walks in 82 innings, while also compiling 88 strikeouts.

2)Jonathan Broxton-With his 25th birthday only 2 weeks away, Broxton doesn't have a lot left to wish for. He is 5-0 with 12 saves, and a 1.38 ERA for the team with the best record in baseball-The Los Angeles Dodgers. Before this season, he has never had more than 14 saves in a season, but did have 32 holds for the Dodgers in 2007 with a 2.85 ERA. Oh yeah-In case I forgot, he also has 41 strikeouts in 26 innnings, while only giving up 8 hits.

3)Edwin Jackson-After three less than average full seasons, the 25 year old, who was traded from the Rays for Matt Joyce, has gone 5-3 with a 2.30 ERA, with one of his defeats being to the great Zack Greinke. He has only given up 59 hits and 18 walks in 74 innings, and he is really looking like a pitcher who has figured it out. By some miracle, if he is still available in your league, he shouldn't be.

Now we've come to the most interesting part of my first post. This is the part where I reveal my sleeper picks for pitchers, who are most likely available in your league right now. They are pitching well, they are not injured, they are putting up impressive numbers, and they are not owned. Enough said!

1)Randy Wells-This Chicago Cubs pitcher has made five starts for the Cubs in the last month, and although he has a record of 0-2, his numbers indicate nothing of the sort. He has an ERA of 1.69, and a WHIP of 0.97. In 32 innnings pitched, he's only given up 24 hits and seven walks, to go along with 27 strikeouts. He has faced some above average competition, and let it also be mentioned that in one of his starts, he carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning before losing it. He still did not get the win in that game.

2)Jason Vargas-The 26 year old Mariner has only had 4 starts this season, all since May 12th. However, in these four starts, in which he faced some tough opponents, Vargas is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched. In addition, he has only given up 21 hits and 9 walks during this stretch. He is definitely a pitcher to keep your eye on.

3)Josh Outman-This Oakland A's 24 year old has started 8 games so far for Oakland this year, and has really been turning heads on a team that hasn't had much to cheer about so far this season. He has gone 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA so far, and his other numbers are equally as good. In 47 innnings pitched, he's only given up 35 hits and 21 walks, while striking out 40. Again, a pitcher to keep a close watch on.

I'm not saying these 3 guys are Cy Youngs or anything like that, but I am saying that when good young pitchers emerge midseason, like they always do, they have to start somewhere. Maybe that somewhere is now for these three guys. We shall see!

Outman pitches tonight against the White Sox, while Vargas pitches tonight against the Baltimore Orioles.

I hope you enjoyed my first post, and I hope it was informative and helpful for all you fantasy players out there. I will continue to add new posts and try and improve the site on a regular basis. There will be new posts at least once a week, if not more, and I welcome and appreciate any questions or comments. Thanks for reading,

Gary