Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Stroman had some of the best surface numbers of his career with a 3.02 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, as a stronger Mets infield defense helped to normalize his BABIP against just a bit. But even though he had the highest strikeout rate of his career, the new splitter he introduced didn't generate enough whiffs to make a difference. He remained an overall negative in the category (7.94/9), and he'll now pitch for a mediocre Cubs team in 2022. Stroman won't hurt you, and drafting a pitcher with little downside can be a plus if you have a deep rotation. But at this point in his career, there's equally little upside, so whether you take the shot on him depends entirely on how the rest of your staff looks.

Hendricks won the "most underrated starter" award for five years in a row or so because fantasy managers liked to ignore his excellent numbers due to his low velocity and strikeout rate. But the bill came due last eason, and he had, by far, the worst season of his career. His ERA pushed 5.00, his WHIP was two tenths of a point higher than his career mark, and his already low strikeout rate dipped further. There's hope for a rebound, of course. Hendricks is just 32, his home run rate seemed unsustainably high, and through it all, he still got to 14 wins. But this already feels like fantasy manager missed the opportunity to jump off the Hendricks ship a year too early rather than a year too late. Hendricks needs to have pristine ratios to justify the strikeout rate, and pitching in front of a mediocre defense, it seems highly unlikely he'll get there. There are better places to spend your late-round investment.