There’s no need to look too far for Major League Baseball pitchers having a difficult start to 2015. Here’s three players that fantasy baseball owners must decide if they should weather the storm or run away.
Mike Leake
Will the real Mike Leake, please stand up?
On April 30, Leake looked like he was starting a trend of consistently good starts. On that night, the Cincinnati Reds pitcher recorded an eight-inning shutout against the Atlanta Braves. His stuff didn’t falter for the next two starts, with strong outings against Pittsburgh and once again Atlanta.
During those two starts, he threw 14 innings and allowed one run. His strikeout numbers weren’t a stat that propelled fantasy baseball owners to victory, but you can’t argue with that ERA during those three starts.
Then, on May 16, the wheels fell off. Leake allowed nine earned runs on 11 hits, thus starting another three game streak; this time in the opposite direction.
Leake has thrown twice since then, and he’s allowed 11 earned runs over nine innings. In addition, he’s walked seven batters to go along with 16 hits.
It’s not clear which Leake will appear when he makes his next start Wednesday. Looking at his past, Leake has been around the high 3.00 ERA mark, with limited strikeout numbers and hovering around the .500 mark. That’s not good enough for fantasy baseball owners to stick around.
Let Leake go and play the waiver wire for pitchers to find more consistent options. – Run away
Rick Porcello
It’s somewhat surprising that Boston Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is still owned in several fantasy baseball leagues.
Sure, last season he was good. He turned in a 3.43 ERA to go along with 15 wins. Even two years ago, he was striking out hitters at a better-than-normal rate at 7.2 per nine innings.
For his career, though, Porcello has been the beneficiary of a good offense. Two years ago he was 13-8. Fantasy baseball owners can use wins, but Porcello got those wins with a 4.32 ERA. That’s consistent with who he has been, with the exception of last year and his rookie year, with a 3.96 ERA.
Those are the only two years where he has turned in sub-4.00 ERAs.
This year, his ERA has been worse than normal at 5.37, with his last two starts yielding 13 runs over 11 1/3 innings. That bad ERA goes with a relative inability to strike out batters at 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings. In the last four games, he has 15 strikeouts in 23 innings.
Porcello’s main attribute is winning games (he still has four wins this season). That’s not worth using a roster spot for him. – Run away
Jon Niese
New York Mets pitcher is not helping Against The Chalk’s reputation. Check out this nugget written before Niese toed the rubber against the Chicago Cubs on May 14.
He had been rolling, and since he was officially injury free, it appeared that Niese had found his groove. Then the Cubs tallied four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings, and Niese has fallen apart.
He gave up eight earned runs against St. Louis in five innings, and in his last start against Pittsburgh, he allowed four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Since Against The Chalk wrote that article, Niese went from having a 1.45 ERA to now owning a 4.08 ERA. That’s a rough stretch.
And although the Cardinals and Cubs are two of the best teams in the National League, they’re toward the bottom in Major League Baseball in hitting against left-handed pitchers. That’s not good for Niese owners.
This makes it a perfect 3-for-3, but sometimes you have to realize you made a mistake. Picking up Niese this past week was a mistake, and fantasy baseball owners should move on with another pitcher. – Run away
