Playing a little catch-up here. With the last (ironically, also the first) Starting Lineup post running a bit long, I decided to break it into Position Players and Pitchers. Below is the Pitchers portion of the Starting Lineup.Bullpen Joel Hanrahan, Frank Fransisco, Jose Valverde, Brandon League
Joel Hanrahan (pictured right) just had a huge hike in his fantasy value. With the trade of Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers, the Pirates were left closer-less. Of their primary options, Hanrahan and Evan Meek, Hanrahan is the more experience pitcher (with some closer experience when he was with the Nationals) and should get the majority of the save opportunities for the remainder of the season. While Meek has arguably had the better year, in the last two months Hanrahan has been absolutely dominant on the mound posting a 1.44 ERA, 0.84 WHIP with 30 K's, 1 Win (no losses) and 8 Holds in 25.0 innings pitched during the months of June and July.
Frank Fransico is a guy who started the year as the Rangers closer, but due to struggles was removed and has since taken over a set-up role, forcing many owners to dropp him. However, because of his high strikeout rate, high pressure situations and previous closer experience, he still has value in many leagues. Since losing his closer role, Fransisco has posted a 3.63 ERA, 1.44 WHIP (little high), 52 K's, 5 Wins and 14 Holds in 34.2 innings pitched. Most of his value is in vulture wins and his high strikeout rate, and there is no question that he would take over the closer role if anything were to happen to Neftali Feliz.
Jose Valverde has been struggling lately. He's given up 7 earned runs in his last 3.1 IP, and 9 earned runs in his last 7 IP. He started the year very strong, with a sub 1.00 ERA and WHIP for much of the early season. We all expected a regression, but this is kind of shocking. Valverde has made it clear his problems are most likley due to mechanical reasons, and that he is not injured, but one thing is for certain: he doesn't appear to be the dominant closer he once did and caution should be used going forward. The Tigers have no one that could replace him, so he will have to work through his struggles continuing to pitch the 9th inning.
Brandon League's value could be on the rise soon. There are rumors flying that Seattle is trying to deal David Aardsma, and he will likely be placed on waivers at some point to set up a trade with a contending team. If this happens, League would immediately step into the closer role. Even without saves, however, League has had value this season. He's had 14 decisions without starting a single game, with a record of 8-6. 8 wins is rediculous for a set up guy, and to put that into perspective, Felix Hernandez, perenial Cy Young candidate, has only 7 wins on the year.
Starters Wandy Rodriguez, Brandon Morrow, Carl Pavano, Mike Pelfrey, Travis Wood
Wandy Rodriguez, once left for dead, has been an excellent waiver pick up for many owners in the recent weeks. Going 6-1 in his last 7 starts, he's posted a 1.91 ERA, 0.89 WHIP with 43 K's over that span. He looks like a great option going forward, despite being on a poor Houston team with poor run support. He's a must start against mediocre teams, and a match up play against the elite.
Brandon Morrow is the guy that defines the home/road split. 6-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.22 WHIP at home, with a 1-5 record, 6.23 ERA and 1.67 WHIP on the road. Such a glaring difference for a guy that by all accounts has nasty stuff and should be a good pitcher down the road. I would attribute luck and match ups to the insane difference in the split, and not so much ball park factors. He is a definite match up play, and borderline owned pitcher in standard 10 team leagues. The only reason you should be cautious is because of his division, he has to face New York, Boston and Tampa Bay quite often, and he shouldn't be started against any of these teams, home or on the road.
Carl Pavano has been the anchor of the Twins pitching staff this season, despite what Fransisco Liriano might say. Pavano likely wasn't drafted in your league, and whoever picked him up has been singing his praises for weeks now. On the season, he's 13-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. With only 83 punch outs, tempter your enthusiasm, as he may be getting lucky lately, but the low ERA and WHIP are legit. He seems to be back to his former self and is a good option going forward.
Mike Pelfrey started the year out strong, with whispers of "Cy Young" centered around his name. After starting out 9-1 with a 2.39 ERA, he was likely owned in every league out there. However, since then he's gone 1-4, posting an ERA over 10 in the month of July. I think this is more of the Mike Pelfrey that you will see from this point forward, and I wouldn't be offended if you dropped him in shallow leagues.
Travis Wood, the guy who got lost in the youth pitching of the Reds, has emerged as a solid option going forward. He's pitching for a great team, and his stats show he's a legit pitcher. Starting the season out his name was behind Mike Leake and Aroldis Chapman, but for the moment he's out performing both. While only being 1-1, he has a 2.87 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 37.2 IP. His 33 strikeouts are coming at a decent clip, and I wouldn't consider him more than a spot start at this point. Speaking of spot starts, Wood is pitching at Pittsburgh, who has scored the second least runs in the league (only scoring more than lowly Seattle).
That raps up the first Starting Lineup. In the future, I likely won't write so much about each player, or write about less players all together, but I think this idea turned out ok.
