Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Morton was about as safe of a late-round starting pitcher steal as you'll ever find.Even so, no one anticipated the year he is having with a 250 K pace to go with incredible ratios and perhaps 16 or 17 wins if he keeps it up in the second half.

Every underlying metric last year was screaming regression and this year it is the very opposite, which should leave fantasy owners to expect somewhere in between during the second half. It it worth putting in an offer in case you can still buy-low.

With Alvarado and Castillo both ahead of Pagan to begin the season, it seemed unlikely he would become a dominant closer, but here we are with him entering the second half with a sub 0.90 WHIP and 54 Ks in just 39 innings. He is the real deal.

The Rays were already taking their time with Glasnow then he had a setback so his return is still up in the air. It could happen in August, or perhaps he will be shut down for the season. You can't drop him yet just in case, however, as he would deliver top 15 SP numbers the moment he returns.

Chirinos may not have the most impressive underlying metrics, but he just keeps getting it done from a ratio standpoint and as expected, the wins have followed. Don't expect 200 Ks or anywhere close, but he is a plenty useful piece for your rotation.

McKay has started out by pitching great in his first few appearances. While he might not exactly be an ace the rest of the season, he is certainly one rookie you can rely on over the second half, perhaps as a SP3.

If you play in a deeper league, Castillo can be a ratio master that racks up plenty of saves, or better yet, if you employ the Marmol Strategy, Castillo qualifies as a starting pitcher so you can plug him on days where you don't have enough starters going.

Beeks isn't technically a starting pitcher, but he is racking up the innings and has plenty of Ks to go along with it. More importantly, his ratios are stellar and he'll pick up some wins to go with it all.

Richards carried a 4.42 ERA with 4 wins last year and formerly played independent baseball after going undrafted. It helps, however, that he has the best changeup in baseball. Richards' changeup is Trevor Hoffman-esque. It carried a 41.2% whiff rate with a .214 xWOBA. It certainly helped his performance when he adjusted by throwing it 38% of the time instead of 23% of the time at the start of the season. In those closing months, hitters were so focused on his filthy change-up that his slider suddenly became even more deadly than the changeup. With two of the most useful pitches in baseball, Richards could breakout this year in Miami much like Jake Peavy did in in 2004 after a rough start to his career.