Will former top-10 prospect, Archie Bradley, bounce back from an injury-riddled 2015?
This week I’ve been writing a series on rookies in baseball this season. Yesterday I brought you 23 position players from the National League that can help your fantasy baseball team win a championship in 2016 and another two-dozen players from the AL on Wednesday. Joey Gallo, Domingo Santana, Byron Buxton and Corey Seager were listed as favorites to take home Rookie of the Year this season. Today you will see which pitchers have a chance to win some hardware and plenty of other pitchers that might fuel your endeavor for a championship this season. Part-three of the three-part series proved to be longer than expected, so I broke it into two separate articles. I wanted to split it by AL and NL, but as you will see, most fantasy-relevant rookie pitchers this season are in the NL. You can find the second piece to the article here.
Rookie of the Year Candidates
Tyler Glasnow – Pittsburgh Pirates – He is not expected to begin the season in the majors, but Glasnow, who just turned 22 has surged through the minors and I anticipate him stealing a job before May. The 6’8″, power-armed righty has struck out 581 batters through just 383 innings pitched with a 2.07 ERA since being drafted out of high school. Spots do not have to come available for players like Glasnow, they force their own way in. If Glasnow gets 170 innings this season he will surely strike out 200+, and is set to grab at least 13 wins on a playoff-contending Pirates team.
Steven Matz – New York Mets – The lefty is the hot name of these players for a reason. He has cruised through the minor leagues over the past two seasons and made quite the impression in the Big Apple late last season. Matz has talent, absolutely, but beware of injury concerns he has dealt with for many years. If Matz stays healthy we can expect 180 IP, 11 wins, a 3.55 ERA, and 160 Ks.
Kenta Maeda – Los Angeles Dodgers – Please do not make the mistake of expecting Yu Darvish numbers or Masahiro Tanaka type stuff out of Maeda, that is not who he is. Rather, he weights 154 pounds and struck out less than eight hitters per nine IP in Japan. Maeda consistently sports an ERA that hovers around 2.00 and has won two of the last five Eiji Sawamura Awards (think Cy Young) over the likes of Tanaka, Darvish, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Chihiro Kaneko. We can expect a 3.20 ERA with 14 wins and 140 Ks in 190 IP in the majors this season. I’ll suggest that the most exciting thing about Maeda is that he is betting on himself. His contract earns him an additional ten million dollars per season if he finishes at or above 30 starts and 200 innings pitched.
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Second Half Heroes
Lucas Giolito – Washington Nationals – The consensus top pitching prospect in baseball did not have the greatest overall numbers, but his stuff is on a level of it’s own. He was set to be picked first overall before undergoing Tommy John surgery as senior in high school. The Nationals took a chance on him with the 16th overall pick, and it appears to have been a great decision. Even with the state of the Nationals’ rotation, Giolito will force his way in by the end of the season and could put up astonishing numbers from the beginning.
Alex Reyes – St. Louis Cardinals – As you may have heard, Reyes has a 50-game suspension to begin his 2016 season. That will not prevent him from contributing at the big league level though, nor will the impressive Cardinals pitching staff. Like Giolito, Reyes could deserve a spot on any big league roster by the close of the season. Last year he compiled unbelievable numbers with 151 Ks in 101 IP while allowing just 70 hits. The Cardinals have another real gem headed their way this fall
Julio Urias – Los Angeles Dodgers – Could it be that Clayton Kershaw is not the most talented pitcher on the Dodgers? Urias is still just 18 years old but has blazed through the minors. The last pitcher to throw in Triple-A as an 18-year-old was King Felix. Urias has problems with his left eye, but that hasn’t hindered his command. The left-handed teenager will dazzle major league hitters at some point this season and should be worth rostering, even in standard leagues.
Jose Berrios – Minnesota Twins – The kid might only be 21 years-old, but don’t let that fool you, he belongs in the majors. No one in the Twins rotation is going to hold back this top-20 prospect with dynamite stuff. Last season he struck out 175 in 166 IP with a 2.87 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A. If he throws 100 IP you can expect 90 Ks, six wins and a 3.95 ERA.
Blake Snell – Tampa Bay Rays – He began last season with 49 scoreless innings, then finished with a sparkling 1.61 ERA with 163 Ks in 134 IP at all three levels. Snell was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year as a result. The Rays’ rotation is as deep as perhaps any team in the big leagues, but only an injury from one of five pitchers separates us from a Snell promotion. His stuff is not elite but he has extreme pitchibility and mound presence that will translate even to the AL East.
Marco Gonzales – St. Louis Cardinals – Did you know that Marco had Carlos Martinez beat for the fifth spot in the rotation last spring before a minor injury? Martinez went on to put together a superb season while Gonzalez wasted away in the minors. It is only a matter of time before Wainwright, Wacha, Martinez, or Jaime Garcia goes down with an injury, and when they do, Marco will be waiting in the wings for his chance to have his pitches called by Yadi and win more than his share of games.
Other Useful Pieces
Jon Gray – Colorado Rockies – You may be wondering why I would put a 23-year-old Rockies’ pitcher with a 5.53 ERA last season in this section. What I am wondering is whether or not Coors Field can actually keep the Gray Wolf from the Rookie of the Year conversation. The Rockies haven’t had an elite pitching prospect like Gray in their system since recently retired, Jeff Francis. I’ll give you this, Francis struggled over his career, but you must admit he didn’t have a filthy slider or 99 MPH fastball. If the batters can’t hit a guy it won’t matter how far the ball can fly.
Archie Bradley – Arizona Diamondbacks – You may remember him getting hit in the face with a line drive last season or blowing up one of your DFS lineups. The 6’4″ righty carried a 5.80 ERA in 35 MLB debut innings last season as he dealt with injuries. This season he gets a fresh start and is pitching in front of a much-improved team. There is no question about Bradley’s talent, and I am confident he will turn his performance around this season and produce for fantasy owners.
Alex Meyer – Minnesota Twins – The former top-30 prospect has started most games he pitched in his impressive minor league career, but last year the Twins had the foresight to transition him into a reliever. Meyer is a 6’9″ righty that had middle-of-the-rotation upside written all over him, but in the bullpen, he can be a monster. Glen Perkins is no franchise closer, so as the season progresses I expect Meyer to claim his rightful spot at the back-end of the Twins bullpen.
View Part 2 of the Pitching Prospect series here
Thank you for reading my series. I hope you gleaned some useful information whether you merely participate in standard leagues or if you are in a 30 team dynasty deep-league with 60 man rosters (these leagues are great by the way, if you haven’t tried one, please do). Keep your eyes peeled for more prospect stories from me. In the coming month, you will receive, among other articles, a top-300 prospect list, complete with players still living in Japan, Cuba, Venezuela, and even some playing high school or college ball in the states.
