I’m back from the vacation and ready for action, starting tonight with a question I recently received from a reader.
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Nathan asks…
I know you like Mitre, but how would you rank the following pitchers available in my 10-team 5×5 Yahoo league –
Sergio Mitre
Sean Marshall
Orlando Hernandez
Greg Maddux
Chuck James
Fausto Carmona
I don’t usually deal with questions in a league so shallow on this site, but I think those guys are a mediocre enough group that you’re going to find many of them in deeper leagues–or at least be able to acquire them without giving up much. Let’s take a look at the group in order of their value this year:
Greg Maddux - Because he’s a sure thing. He offers little in the way of upside, but I’m nearly positive he’ll be giving you an above-average ERA, 12-15 wins, and a sub-1.30 WHIP. And in high school I was a smallish righty with an a mediocre running fastball and good off-speed stuff. Sue me.
Sergio Mitre – I’ve analyzed him enough in this space, so I’ll add just this: Ask Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Carl Pavano, and Brad Penny how groundball pitchers like playing for the Marlins.
Chuck James - I like his strikeout rate, but I’m scared off by the ugly whip and extreme flyball rate. With how many homeruns he’ll give up, his ERA shouldn’t help you unless he’s running 1.20 WHIPs. Still, he’d probably be the consensus pick of the group, and the top three are fairly interchangeable for me. I just think James has the biggest potential to hurt you in a league that shallow.
Orlando Hernandez - A pretty good pitcher when he’s healthy–he just isn’t healthy that often. A good waiver-wire pickup, as he’ll most likely help you when he’s on the mound, and it won’t hurt as much when he’s injured if he was free. Always good for some strikeouts and decent rate stats.
Fausto Carmona – Doing his best Chien-Ming Wang impression. Fausto’s allowed 60 hits in 63 innings while only striking out 23 batters. I shouldn’t have to tell you that’s not sustainable. Sell, sell, sell.
Sean Marshall – A decent guy to take a flyer on in the deepest of leagues, but he’ll have to keep his strikeout rate above 7.0 to be successful. He doesn’t get enough ground balls and walks too many to become an above-average pitcher otherwise. If he keeps striking people out at the major league level, he could be valuable. I’m just not confident he can.
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I’m working on a couple big things that should appear over the next day or two, so stay tuned. Here’s hoping the first two months of the season have left you near the top of your leagues.
