This week, two fresh faces make their debuts in this piece. The first is a righty who was a supplemental first-round pick all the way back in 2008 who’s a veteran of more than 700 innings in “The Show,” but mostly bad innings. In his age-27 season, however, it looks like he might be turning into a useful big-league hurler who can also help fantasy squads in deeper leagues. The second newcomer is actually currently in the minors, but he’s pitched well in “The Bigs” in his his rookie season. Finally, a starting pitching eligible reliever who was once a highly touted prospect returns as he continues to further distance himself from a disastrous relief appearance earlier in the month.
Import your team to My Playbook for instant Waiver Wire advice 
Jordan Lyles (SD): Yahoo! – 30%, ESPN – 20%
Lyles debuted in the Majors all the way back in 2011, yet he did so at a young age, so he’s still yet to celebrate his 30th birthday. Now 27 years old and the owner of a 5.31 ERA in his career, he’s gone from complete fantasy non-thought to useful. He opened the year in the bullpen with 13 relief appearances, but he’s been transitioned to the rotation and made three starts since.
In three starts this year, the veteran righty has totaled 18.0 innings, a 2.50 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 3.37 xFIP, 3.20 SIERA, 0.94 WHIP, 5.7% BB%, 28.6% K%, and 11.6% SwStr%, according to FanGraphs. A week ago, Craig Edwards took a thorough look at Lyles for FanGraphs. It’s an excellent piece with detailed video breakdowns and tables, and I’d suggest reading. Since that piece, Lyles made his third start of 2018, and it was his least effective of the three. Still, it wasn’t a complete disaster, and it would be unwise to ignore the impressive nature of his first two turns in the Friars’ rotation.
Among the things Edwards pointed out in the linked piece for FanGraphs is the elite job Lyles has done of getting ahead. In three starts, Lyles has a 72.9% F-Strike%. To put that number in perspective, the league average this year is 59.9%, and Miles Mikolas leads qualified hurlers with a 71.3% F-Strike%. In his last start, he threw a first-pitch strike just 57.7% of the time, and it’s possible starting more hitters off with a ball helped contribute to his worst start of the year. The righty’s F-Strike% is one of the key numbers in his profile I’ll keep tabs on going forward while trying to determine what the re-invented Lyles’ new true talent level is. In the meantime, he calls one of the game’s most pitcher-friendly parks home, has done some promising things, and, as a result, is worth rostering in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixers.
Jaime Barria (LAA): Yahoo! – 6%, ESPN – 6%
The Angels have been utilizing a six-man rotation this year, and due to the fact they wouldn’t need a sixth starter again until May 26, they optioned Barria to the minors after a seven-inning gem on May 15. Barria has made one unimpressive, short start in Triple-A since the demotion, but that hardly erases his solid work for the parent club this year. The right-hander was an unheralded prospect, but FanGraphs gave him a Future Value grade of 45 overall on the 20-to-80 scale entering the year, and Baseball Prospectus ranked him ninth in the Angels’ system. Both FanGraphs and BP had an ETA of next year for the youngster, but as he’s done throughout his minor-league career, he moved at an accelerated pace and reached “The Show” this season.
He’s made five starts spanning 25.1 innings, and he’s totaled a 2.13 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 4.33 xFIP, and 4.26 SIERA, as well as a 4.92 DRA, per Baseball Prospectus. Barria’s advanced metrics indicate he’s been rather lucky, but his FIP, xFIP, and SIERA would all play in deeper leagues. Furthermore, his 6.8% BB% and 19.4% K% are solid, and his plate discipline numbers are especially intriguing. Barria’s tallied an 11.5% SwStr% that bests the league average of 10.6%, he’s getting ahead of hitters with a 64.1% F-Strike% that’s also north of the league average of 59.9%, and he’s doing an elite job of getting hitters to fish out of the strike zone with a 40.0% O-Swing% that’s a whopping 10.1% higher than the league average of 29.9%.
The Angels haven’t been washed out of any games since Barria’s last start, so he appears poised to take the ball again on May 26, as Maria Guardado mentioned that being the next time the Angels would need a sixth starter in the linked piece above. I wouldn’t advise using him in that turn against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, but looking ahead, a matchup at home against the Rangers would be on tap the following Friday if Mother Nature doesn’t force any postponements. A matchup against the Rangers would be quite favorable. Barria’s played himself into being rosterable in 14-team mixers or deeper leagues, though, he’s not matchup proof. Sit him in his next turn, but get him in there against the Rangers in the turn after that if everything goes as it lays out presently.
Tyler Glasnow (PIT): Yahoo! – 4%, ESPN – 2%
I took an in-depth look at Glasnow last week, and I’m revisiting the tall righty again this week. Since he got the nod last week, Glasnow made another two-inning relief appearance in which he yielded a run on three hits. The run was scored on a solo homer. Glasnow punched out a couple more batters, and he failed to issue a free pass. The zero in the walk column is a welcome development, and it continues the trend of Glasnow filling up the strike zone.
I discussed Glasnow’s usage of a slider he’d never used before his April 27 relief appearance last week. FanGraphs credits him with throwing 20 sliders this year, and he’s coaxed four strikeouts and a 25.0% SwStr% on the pitch. Among the 376 sliders thrown a minimum of 10 times this year, it has the seventh highest average spin rate (2,882 RPM), according to Baseball Savant. Glasnow’s no stranger to the average spin rate leaderboard. Among pitchers who’ve thrown a minimum of 20 four-seam fastballs and 20 curves and knuckle curves this season, he ranks tied for 41st out of 428 in average four-seamer spin rate (2,447 RPM) and 15th out of 215 in average curve spin rate (2,857 RPM). In addition to having plus spin, he also has plus velo on his heater. FanGraphs has his average four-seam fastball velocity this year at 96.2 MPH with a max of 99.1 MPH. It’s easy to dream on his arsenal, but how about some results.
Well, since unveiling his slider on April 27, he’s made five appearances. He was knocked around by the Nationals for six earned runs in one-plus inning in one of those appearances, but he’s been excellent otherwise. He’s ripped off three multi-inning scoreless appearances in that five-appearance stretch with a one-earned run appearance over two innings in the other non-Nationals appearance. During the four good appearances, he’s allowed just one earned run on eight hits, two walks, and 12 strikeouts in 9.1 innings. In those four appearances, he has a 0.96 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 5.4% BB%, and 32.4% K%. Those are eye-popping numbers, even with the caveat of a small sample size and some cherry picking. Including his disastrous appearance against the Nationals, Glasnow has whipped up a 69.6% F-Strike%, 50.3% Zone%, and 14.7% SwStr% in his last five appearances. In the 24-year old’s four strong appearances in his last five, he’s started off 75.7% of the batters he’s faced with a first-pitch strike. Glasnow is thriving by getting ahead and trusting his top-shelf stuff. There’s some risk of him losing his control given his track record of high walk rates, but it’s also possible he’s turned a corner.
Glasnow’s far from a must-own option in standard re-draft leagues. He’s played himself into being rosterable in leagues larger than 14-team mixers. Although, I specifically re-visited Glasnow for gamers in deeper keeper and dynasty formats. At only 24 years old with an electric arsenal, there’s hope for him being the latest example of a once highly-touted starting pitching prospect who was prematurely labeled a bust before figuring things out in the bullpen. His future could go in any number of directions such as reverting back to what he’s been previously, settling into a dominant multi-inning relief ace or forcing his way into the rotation and having success there. The possible potentially good outcomes are worth rolling the dice on in dynasty leagues and some keeper leagues. Also, if he keeps up his recent run, he could emerge as a solid option in more traditional re-draft leagues.
Import your team to My Playbook for instant Lineup & Trade advice
Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
