Wednesday was a reminder about why it’s so hard to give up on talented pitchers. And why progress isn’t a straight line.
First, we saw the continued dominance of Brewers right-hander Corbin Burnes, who carved up the hapless Cubs for 10 strikeouts with just two hits and no walks allowed over six innings. He’s now sporting a 0.49 ERA with 30 strikeouts and zero walks through 18 1/3 innings. He’s the only pitcher in the last 120 years to start a season with 30 strikeouts and no walks.
And then, there was the no-no. Carlos Rodòn — featured right here on Waiver Wired last week — flirted with perfection before settling for the 20th no-hitter in White Sox history in his start against the Indians. Adding velocity as the game wore on, Rodón struck out seven and walked none, with the only baserunner reaching on that plunking of Roberto Perez’s foot in the ninth inning. It was the first nine-inning complete game in 94 career starts for the 2014 No. 3 overall pick.
Both pitchers are remarkable stories. For Burnes, the quality stuff was always obvious, but he had a ghastly 8.82 ERA in 32 appearances (four starts) with the Brewers in 2019. He allowed 17 homers in 49 innings while left-handers destroyed him to the tune of a 1.271 OPS. His four-seam fastball was getting crushed, so he scrapped that and adopted a cutter which was the great equalizer for him last year. By the way, he’s throwing it even harder this year. Good luck with that.
With Rodón, he was an afterthought as recently as a couple of months ago. And that’s understandable. He threw a total of 42 1/3 innings between 2019-2020 due to a shoulder debridement and Tommy John surgery, resulting in a 5.74 ERA. The White Sox actually non-tendered him over the winter before bringing him back on a one-year, $3 million deal in February. Rodon was working with new pitching coach Ethan Katz before the non-tender and we’re seeing the continued benefits of that arrangement.
Not every struggling pitcher is going to turn into a Burnes or a Rodón, but their respective cases certainly function as a reminder of what to look for. Scrapping a bad pitch in hopes of changing your fate. A pitcher at a crossroads who rededicates himself until the tutelage of a new pitching coach, showing an unexpected surge in velocity. Situations like these are worth rooting for and speculating on. And we’ll keep watching — and rooting — for the next one.
Have specific questions about your roster? Ask @djshort on Twitter.
MIXED LEAGUES
(Players rostered in under 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
Note: Percentages are from the morning of Thursday, April 15th
Brandon Nimmo OF, Mets (Yahoo: 34 percent rostered)
Simply put, Nimmo is an on-base machine. That’s well established already (he has a .395 career OBP), but he’s taking things to a new level so far this year. He’s hitting .464/.583/.571 through eight games, reaching base at least two times in all of them. He’s just the 10th player this century (since 2000) to pull off that feat. He’s a great play in all formats this weekend with the Mets traveling to Coors Field for a series against the Rockies, but there’s a case for him beyond that. Nimmo did a great job cutting down on his strikeouts last year and he’s much faster than his stolen base totals indicate. The volume out of the leadoff spot should lead to useful counting stats in a very good Mets lineup.
Jed Lowrie 2B, Athletics (Yahoo: 36 percent rostered)
Well, this was unexpected. After a litany of injuries limited Lowrie to just eight plate appearances during his two-year, $20 million contract with the Mets, the switch has flipped after his return to the Athletics. It surely helped that he was finally able to have the knee surgery the Mets prevented him from having. Through 12 games, the 36-year-old staked his claim on the starting second base job by hitting .333/.417/.548 with two homers, three doubles, 11 RBI, and nine runs scored. After starting the season out of the No. 6 spot in the A’s lineup, he’s batted third in each of the last four games. Who knows how long this feel-good story can last, but he’s worth rostering as a middle infielder for now.
Robbie Ray SP, Blue Jays (Yahoo: 34 percent rostered)
Just when Ray appeared to be putting himself back in the good graces of fantasy managers this spring, he fell on some stairs while carrying his kid and bruised his elbow. Fortunately, it wasn’t anything serious and he was able to make his season debut on Monday against the Yankees. It was far from a dominant outing, but he managed to hold them to two runs over five innings while walking three and striking out three. One notable takeaway from the outing was the uptick in velocity carried over from the spring. He averaged 94.7 mph on his fastball (up from 93.9 mph last year) and topped out at 96.4 mph. He hasn’t lived in this area since his really good days with the Diamondbacks. With his ability to pile up strikeouts, you have to pay attention here.
Carson Kelly C, Diamondbacks (Yahoo: 21 percent rostered)
My colleague, Matt Williams, mentioned the speedy Tim Locastro in his Daily Dose on Thursday morning, so let’s spread the love to some of his Diamondbacks’ teammates. Wilson Ramos (Yahoo: 41 percent rostered) is pretty much a no-brainer add in mixed leagues in the midst of his ridiculous power tear to begin the year, but you don’t need me to tell you that. That’s why I’m looking in the direction of Kelly, who is off to a hot start this year after crashing with a .221/.264/.385 batting line in 39 games in the shortened 2020 campaign. Remember that he put up 18 homers with an .826 OPS over 111 games in his first full season as a regular in 2019, earning attention as a top-12 catcher in mixed league drafts going into draft time last year. As is the case with many players, we probably shouldn’t hold last year against him. It’s not going to take much for him to reemerge at the catcher position.
Kole Calhoun OF, Diamondbacks (Yahoo: 22 percent rostered)
Calhoun was almost included in this column last week, but I didn’t expect him to come back from knee surgery as quickly as he did. Regardless, he should be rostered in more leagues. The 33-year-old was tied for seventh in the majors with 16 homers last season. He popped 33 homers over 152 games in 2019, so if you put the last two seasons together, only 13 players have hit more during that time period. It’s a really impressive group. Calhoun has a .229 batting average dating back to 2017, so there’s a reason he doesn’t get as much attention as the other names in the same stratosphere. It’s easy to look past a boring old veteran in favor of a young player with more “upside,” but Calhoun has made some real strides with his barrel rate over the past two seasons and he quietly did a good job cutting down on his strikeouts last year. Odds are he’ll be useful once again.
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Taijuan Walker SP, Mets (Yahoo: 36 percent rostered)
Starting Walker in Colorado this weekend sounds like a bad idea. Unless you want to see him throw snowballs. Really. It’s going to be snowing there. However, he’s worth rostering in most leagues anyway. Walker has been mighty impressive through his first two starts with the Mets, allowing two runs in 10 1/3 innings (2.61 ERA) with 12 strikeouts and five walks. He’s shown an uptick in velocity in the process — 94.8 mph on his fastball compared to 93.2 mph in 2020 — and the whiffs have followed. Who knows if he can maintain this pace, but this version looks more sustainable than the one we saw last year.
UPDATE: The Mets’ rainout on Thursday pushes Walker back to Tuesday against the Cubs, so even better. He should get a second start against the Nationals next week.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2B/SS, Marlins (Yahoo: 25 percent rostered)
Fine, fine, I’m in. I have some real concerns about Chisholm’s ability to make contact. We saw that during his limited time in the majors last year and his contact rate is actually lower so far this year, but when he makes contact, wow. We saw that first-hand when the dynamic young infielder took Jacob deGrom deep on a 100.4 mph fastball on Saturday afternoon. Chisholm has been hitting the ball extremely hard (five barrels in 18 batted balls, an elite percentage) while drawing plenty of walks and showing off his speed with three steals. And just a bonus, he’s a hell of a lot of fun. I could still see this going south, but for now, let’s run with this exciting skill set.
Tommy La Stella 1B/2B/3B, Giants (Yahoo: 13 percent rostered)
While I was a bit confused about how the Giants would fit everyone in the lineup, I still liked La Stella a lot coming into drafts this year. He had a bit of a weird start to his season, but he’s now hit leadoff in four out of the last five games for the Giants. The numbers haven’t been overly-sexy from a fantasy perspective, but he’s slashing .350/.409/.500 through 10 games. It has somehow flown under the radar that he batted .289/.356/.471 with 21 homers and more walks (47) than strikeouts (40) in 135 games between 2019-2020. The volume at the top of the Giants’ lineup should lead to useful counting stats and the multi-position eligibility should justify his spot on many mixed league rosters.
Kendall Graveman RP, Mariners (Yahoo: 14 percent rostered)
The Mariners acquired Rafael Montero from the Rangers this offseason with the idea of using him as their closer, but he’s never stuck out as a particularly stable option. He’s already blown three saves this year. And while the Mariners actually won all those games, Kendall Graveman is emerging as a legitimate threat for his job. Montero actually coughed up the lead (and later got the victory) in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Orioles on Tuesday before Graveman notched his first career save. Graveman’s average fastball velocity is way up from his days as a starter (96.1 mph so far this year) and he’s greatly increased his usage of his slider so far this year. We could be on the verge of something very interesting here. And yes, please do add guys like Yimi Garcia with the Marlins and Lou Trivino with the Athletics, but you probably already knew that. Garcia would be my first priority among these three pitchers.
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Deeper Dandies:
(Players rostered in under 10 percent of Yahoo leagues)
Alex Cobb SP, Angels (Yahoo: 8 percent rostered)
The Angels turned Dylan Bundy into gold last season after a trade with the Orioles, but could they be doing the same thing with Cobb? So far, so good. While Cobb holds a 4.63 ERA (six runs in 11 2/3 innings) though two starts, he’s put up an impressive 17/2 K/BB ratio with a ground ball rate of 57.1 percent. It’s one thing to just say numbers like that, but Cobb really appears to be making some adjustments here, namely with his excellent split-change. He’s dramatically increased his usage of the pitch this year (45.4 percent of the time, up from 35.2 percent last year) and the swinging strike rate is through the roof. It’s worth noting that Cobb said in February that he changed his training during the offseason and paid a visit to Driveline in order to work on some mechanical changes. Whatever he did, it’s working in the early going.
Renato Nunez 1B/3B, Tigers (Yahoo: 4 percent rostered)
It was a surprising that the Tigers didn’t include Nunez on their Opening Day roster, but he made the decision to stick around at the team’s alternate site in hopes of eventually getting a shot. He didn’t have to wait long, as the club called him up after Miguel Cabrera landed on the injured list with a mild strain of his left biceps. Nunez has taken the opportunity by the horns, as he’s already hit two homers through his first four games. Remember, he hit 43 homers in 203 games between 2019-2020, so he makes for an excellent cheap power play for as long as the playing time is there. At this rate, he might have a featured role even after Cabrera comes back from the IL.
Weekend Warriors:
Huascar Ynoa SP, Braves (Yahoo: 45 percent rostered)
You can certainly make the case to consider Ynoa a blanket “yes” as a pickup in mixed leagues, but I’m mostly taking this one start at time for now. This Saturday against the Cubs certainly qualifies as a must-start, as Chicago is last in the majors in both batting average and OPS. Ynoa was never considered a top prospect and didn’t stand out in a swingman role last year, but he’s dominated so far with just one run allowed a 15/2 K/BB ratio in 12 innings so far this season. His average fastball velocity is up by a couple of ticks and his slider has been a wipeout pitch. Bryse Wilson originally looked like the guy to keep the seat warm for Mike Soroka in the rotation, but now it looks like Ynoa will get that gig.
Anthony DeSclafani SP, Giants (Yahoo: 16 percent rostered)
I actually like DeSclafani going beyond just a streaming option, but maybe this Friday against the Marlins will be enough to assess his presence on mixed league rosters. The veteran right-hander was flat-out bad last year, posting a 7.22 ERA over nine appearances (including seven starts) with the Reds last year, but the Giants made a good gamble by giving him a one-year, $6 million deal this winter. So far, Good Disco has shown up, allowing just one run with a 12/4 K/BB ratio in 11 innings through his first two starts. He was especially impressive last time out against the Rockies. It’s unclear whether this is by design or not, but we’re seeing increases in curve and changeup usage and a rise in swinging strikes as well. He’s no stranger to mixed league rosters, so let’s see if he can keep this going.
Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news and updates. Plus, it allows you to easily track your favorite players. Get it here!
AL ONLY
Aledmys Diaz 1B/2B/3B, Astros (Yahoo: 1 percent rostered)
I’m not sure how long Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman will be away for COVID-19 protocols, but Diaz is worth having around in the meantime. Mostly serving in a super-utility and fill-in role since coming to the Astros in 2019, he’s got an .806 OPS with 13 homers over 92 games with the club. With his multi-position eligibility, he’s a fine plug-and-play option.
Taylor Ward OF, Angels (Yahoo: 0 percent rostered)
The Angels’ roster depth is quickly being whittled away, as Max Stassi, Dexter Fowler, Juan Lagares, and Anthony Rendon have all hit the injured list in recent days. In Fowler’s case, he’s done for the year with a torn ACL. The Angels have added Jon Jay for depth and Jared Walsh could see more time in the outfield in the coming days, but Ward is an interesting alternative. Success hasn’t been there in the majors just yet, but he’s done nothing but hit in the minors and fits the mold of a player Joe Maddon should love to have on his roster.
NL ONLY
Luis Guillorme 2B/SS, Mets (Yahoo: 0 percent rostered)
I’m not sure if Guillorme will ever do enough to be all that interesting in fantasy leagues, but he’s a very good defender who has come a decent way at the plate since his initial chances in the majors. The 26-year-old has a very good approach, as evidenced by his .338/.446/.426 batting line with 18 strikeouts and 14 walks in 83 plate appearances dating back to the start of last season. With J.D. Davis sidelined due to a hand contusion, Guillorme and Jonathan Villar have been sharing playing time at third base. Odds are Villar is already picked up due to his gaudy stolen base totals over the years, but Guillorme could be a sneaky play, especially with Coors Field on the way this weekend.
Johan Oviedo SP, Cardinals (Yahoo: 0 percent rostered)
The Cardinals lost 9-3 to the Brewers on Sunday, with Daniel Ponce de Leon getting roughed up, but there was something positive to come out of the game. Oviedo took one for the team by tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. He allowed just two hits while walking two and striking out four. Averaging 96.3 mph on his fastball and 86 mph on his slider, he racked up 23 CSW (12 called strikes, 11 whiffs) in 65 pitches. Unfortunately, as these situations often go with relievers with options who bail out a starter, Oviedo was quickly sent down to the minors. He’s expected to be back for a spot-start later this month and the potential is there for him to be a big presence in this rotation this year. Worth a stash if you want to speculate.
