The Trade List: Pitcherss Addition: Identifying Prime Buying Opportunities (Salazar, Tanaka & More)
by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)
As fantasy baseball owners we should always be looking for an opportunity to buy low. Whether it’s a player who has gotten off to a slow start or has recently been placed on the disabled list (or maybe it’s a combination of the two), trying to find the player you can acquire at a fraction of the cost will be key to any long-term success.
Which players currently represent that type of opportunity? Let’s take a look at a few hitters who we highly recommend targeting if the price is right (all statistics are through Wednesday):
|
Player
|
Team
|
Reason To Target
|
|---|---|---|
| Tyler Anderson | Colorado Rockies | Are we really recommending buying a Rockies’ starter? Home runs have been his biggest issue, but after struggling to generate groundballs in April (35.7%) he’s flipped the script in May (59.0%). With a 50.9% mark in 114.1 innings in the Majors in ’16, it’s obvious which one is closer to the truth. Couple that with a 9.19 K/9 (20.91% Whiff% on his changeup) and solid 3.00 BB/9 and the upside is fully there as the home runs allowed drop (2.06 HR/9 currently). |
| Johnny Cueto | San Francisco Giants | He’s showing strikeouts (8.44 K/9) and control (2.39 BB/9), yet he owns a 4.64 ERA. Thus far he’s simply not generating enough groundballs (39.5%), and that’s led to home run issues (1.55 HR/9). With a career 0.90 HR/9, that obviously hasn’t been the story of his career. He hasn’t used his slider much, yet, at 5.3%, and maybe a little more usage there would help. Given his track record we’d expect him to figure it out, and while you may not be able to get him too cheap it’s worth investigating. |
| Junior Guerra | Milwaukee Brewers | Set to come off the DL this week, Guerra was an intriguing pitcher heading into the season. While he did benefit from some luck a year ago (.250 BABIP, 79.4% strand rate), he showed he could garner swings and misses from two pitches (14.24% Whiff% on his slider and 19.85% Whiff% on his split-finger fastball). That should help him improve his strikeout mark (7.40 K/9), which complements his solid control (3.18 BB/9) and enough groundballs (45.3%) extremely well. With a surprisingly strong team behind him, now would be the time to roll the dice in case he hits the ground running. |
| Danny Salazar | Cleveland Indians | His ERA is a bit unsightly (5.55 ERA), and there are two key reasons for his struggles; his control (4.40 BB/9) and home runs (24.4% HR/FB). Neither have been significant issues throughout his career (3.20 BB/9 and 13.0% HR/FB), and we’d expect improvements in both as the season progresses. When coupled with the strikeout rate (13.21 K/9) and likely improvement in his luck (.362 BABIP) and there’s every reason to try and buy. |
| Masahiro Tanaka | New York Yankees | There are obvious reasons to be concerned about Tanaka, as he owns a 6.56 ERA and you can argue that his luck isn’t THAT bad (.329 BABIP, 71.2% strand rate). While his strikeouts are down, he is generating more than enough swings and misses (12.6%) and still getting opponents to chase outside of the strike zone (34.1% O-Swing%). The big issue has obviously been home runs, with a 2.44 HR/9, and it’s been just as much of an issue on the road (2.03) as it has been at home (2.95). You have to think that it’ll improve, and with it will come the rest of the performance. We wouldn’t recommend spending a lot to acquire him, but if you can get him really cheap he’s worth the gamble. |
Sources – Fangraphs, Brooks Baseball
Make sure to check out all of our updated rankings:
|
Position
|
Posted
|
|---|---|
| Catcher | April 25 |
| First Base | April 26 |
| Second Base | May 1 |
| Third Base | May 4 |
| Shortstop | May 8 |
| Outfield | – |
| Starting Pitcher | – |
| Relief Pitcher | – |
Source: http://rotoprofessor.com/baseball/?p=33141
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