Who Should I Draft?
James Karinchak or Jesus Luzardo (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| James Karinchak RP - CLE  | Jesus Luzardo SP,RP - OAK  | |
Expert |
60% Recommended by 12 of 20 experts |
40% Recommended by 8 of 20 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 36 | # 37 |
| Best Rank | # 17 | # 20 |
| Worst Rank | # 55 | # 66 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 106 | # 101 |
| Best Rank | # 92 | # 86 |
| Worst Rank | # 123 | # 113 |
| Projections | ||
| Strikeouts | 102 | 146 |
| Wins | 3 | 9 |
| Saves | 24 | 0 |
| ERA | 3.18 | 3.68 |
| WHIP | 1.21 | 1.23 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | - | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 33 | # 43 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 34 | # 38 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 47 | # 66 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 28 | # 32 |
| Jake Ciely The Athletic | # 30 | # 53 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 28 | # 44 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 36 | # 38 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 42 | # 47 |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 36 | # 37 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 33 | # 36 |
| Brendan Tuma FantasyPros | # 29 | # 38 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 17 | # 28 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 30 | # 29 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 31 | # 20 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 39 | # 35 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 40 | # 34 |
| Joe Pisapia FantasyPros | # 41 | # 32 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 48 | # 31 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 50 | # 48 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 55 | # 26 |
| James Karinchak RP - CLE | Jesus Luzardo SP,RP - OAK | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| Games Played | 27 | 12 |
| Games Started | 0 | 9 |
| Innings Pitched | 27.0 | 59.2 |
| Wins | 1 | 3 |
| Losses | 2 | 2 |
| Saves | 1 | 0 |
| Blown Saves | 3 | 0 |
| Holds | 8 | 0 |
| Hits Allowed | 14 | 57 |
| Earned Runs | 8 | 25 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 1 | 9 |
| Strikeouts | 53 | 59 |
| Walks | 16 | 17 |
| ERA | 2.67 | 3.81 |
| WHIP | 1.11 | 1.25 |
| James Karinchak RP - CLE | Jesus Luzardo SP,RP - OAK | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| Games Played | 61 | 26 |
| Games Started | 0 | 25 |
| Innings Pitched | 62.2 | 144.8 |
| Wins | 3 | 9 |
| Losses | 3 | 7 |
| Saves | 24 | 0 |
| Blown Saves | 9 | 0 |
| Holds | 7 | 0 |
| Hits Allowed | 40 | 134 |
| Earned Runs | 22 | 59 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 6 | 20 |
| Strikeouts | 102 | 146 |
| Walks | 35 | 44 |
| ERA | 3.18 | 3.68 |
| WHIP | 1.21 | 1.23 |
| James Karinchak RP - CLE | Jesus Luzardo SP,RP - OAK | |
| News | ||
| Jesus Luzardo's velocity impresses A's manager Bob Melvin. Jack Mannis Tue, Feb 23rd | ||
| Notes | ||
| Karinchak is expected to be Cleveland's closer after Brad Hand moved on to the Nationals, though it's not a sure thing yet. Yes, he walks too many batters (5.33 per nine innings), but you can get away with it when you strike out nearly half the batters you face and hitters bat .151 against you overall. Karinchak has two absolutely devastating pitches: a mid-90's fastball (.184 batting average against, .151 xBA) and a power curveball (.140 batting average against, .114 xBA). Cleveland may not have a ton of success this year and hence save opportunities may be limited, but Karinchak can be a dominant fantasy reliever if he gets the job. Monitor reports out of the spring to see when and if Terry Francona formerly anoints him as the closer. If he does, he should vault to being a top-6 or 7 reliever. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | Luzardo's 2020 campaign wasn't terrible, but it certainly left fantasy managers wanting more. The strikeouts were there, but not quite at the level that was expected. He rarely went deep into games. And he was just more hittable than he ever was in the minors or in his brief time as a reliever in 2019. Luzardo throws four quality pitches and is working to improve his arsenal as we head into the 2021 season, so there's little reason to downgrade your opinion of him too much from where it was prior to the 2020 campaign because of one nine-start stretch. He's an incredibly high-upside pitcher who carries with him plenty of injury risk, and the combination leaves him as a solid SP3 for fantasy leagues. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| "Special K" used the third-highest rate of elevated four seamers to produce a dominant season out of the bullpen. 53 strikeouts in 27 innings led to the second-highest strikeout rate in baseball (behind only Devin Williams). Karinchak was blocked for saves by Brad Hand during the 2020 season, but his departure this offseason opens the door for Karinchak to handle ninth inning duties. Assuming Cleveland doesn't sign a "traditional" veteran closer, then I'd aggressively draft Karinchak as a top-three reliever for fantasy baseball purposes. Brendan Tuma - FantasyPros | ||
