30 Pitching Seasons You Might’ve Missed

Touring the league to highlight a pitcher per team whose efforts could’ve slipped past your radar.

Check out the hitters here.

American League

Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS | 3.73 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 18% K-BB

The bottom half injuries continue to plague him, but the skills are still there when he is healthy and upright.

J.A. Happ, NYY | 3.57 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 26% K

This strong effort will help the 35-year old southpaw get a solid multi-year deal this winter.

Ryan Yarbrough, TB | 15 W, 3.93 ERA

H2H leaguers were definitely aware of Yarbrough because he was a gem as someone piling up wins without cutting into your weekly starts count (in leagues that have such a restriction).

Ryan Borucki, TOR | 3.76 ERA

Options were scant here, but the 24-year old rookie lefty did pretty well despite a meager 9% K-BB rate. His home run suppression (5% HR/FB) played a big role and likely won’t last over a full season, but again, pickings were thin for the Jays.

Mychal Givens, BAL | 2.57 ERA, 8 SVs since Aug. 1st

Unsurprisingly the 46-112 team is a dumpster fire of pitching so I went with their second half closer.

Mike Clevinger, CLE | 3.07 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 26% K

OK, this elite season wasn’t hidden or anything, but I wanted to shine a spotlight on him as his top 20 SP season was actually fourth best on the club (Kluber 5th, Bauer 10th, and Carrasco 15th). He does have the second most innings at 193.3.

Taylor Rogers, MIN | 29% K, 23% K-BB, 0.97 WHIP

I wonder if his left-handedness kept him from getting a shot at the closer’s role after Fernando Rodney was dealt because he was markedly better than Trevor Hildenberger.

Matthew Boyd, DET | 4.39 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

Hey, I didn’t forget my favorite team this time! Boyd’s 4.39 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but he was likely a key midseason waiver pickup in many leagues with a 3.88 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 72 second half innings.

Jace Fry, CWS | 33% K

I think Carlos Rodon and Reynaldo Lopez got their due despite being on a bottom-feeding team so I didn’t pick either of them and instead went for another sneaky lefty who showed some closer upside.

Brad Keller, KC | 3.08 ERA, 54% GB

Man oh man, pitching in the AL Central outside of Cleveland is rough! Keller managed a good ERA, but also had a 1.30 WHIP and 8% K-BB rate so we’d need to see some improvements to maintain a sub-4.00 ERA next year.

Collin McHugh, HOU | 2.05 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 33% K

The former starter could find his way back into the rotation this year, but carved out a nice role in the bullpen with 70 elite innings of work.

Lou Trivino, OAK | 27% K, 14% SwStr

The Oakland pen has no doubt driven their success and the 26-year old rookie has been instrumental in lengthening the pen behind  Treinen and Familia.

Wade LeBlanc, SEA | 3.55 ERA

The Mariners got a solid 157 innings out of the 33-year old southpaw.

Jaime Barria, LAA | 3.54 ERA

Health just ravaged the Angels rotation so unfortunately they needed Barria’s solid work just to stay afloat rather than use them as a supplement to what was supposed to be a strong rotation.

Jose Leclerc, TEX | 1.59 ERA, .120 AVG, 38% K

He was probably too good to really miss the radar, especially with 11 SV since August 1st, but they just didn’t have any real options.

National League

Anibal Sanchez, ATL | 2.96 ERA, 1.09 WHIP

The 34-year old righty once again tamed the HR issues that plagued him for three years and wound up having a fantastic season for the Braves as he curbed his four-seamer for a cutter to stunning results.

Jeremy Hellickson, WAS | 1.07 WHIP

His changeup returned and fostered a rebound from his disastrous 2017 (5.43 ERA).

Hector Neris, PHI | 31 K in 15 2H IP

His 5.40 ERA and 1.36 WHIP for the full season weren’t good, but he got right after a demotion to Triple-A and finished with a strong 2.40 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in those 15 innings.

Seth Lugo, NYM | 2.66 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 25% K

Swingman/multi-inning relief role netted him 101 innings of quality work and he could be in line for a starter’s role next year.

Adam Conley, MIA | 1.10 WHIP, 14% SwStr

Eight earned runs across two tough August outings boosted his ERA to 4.20, but the former starter looks like he could be the next great lefty reliever.

Cole Hamels, CHC | 2.47 ERA, 1.14 WHIP w/Cubs

If you didn’t benefit from this on your fantasy team, you might’ve missed the 34-year old’s surge after a mediocre 20 starts in Texas (4.72 ERA, 1.37 WHIP).

Wade Miley, MIL | 2.32 ERA

Fully embracing his cutter (+30 points to 41%) has yielded 78 strong innings of work, though the 7% K-BB rate is suspect. HR suppression (0.4 HR/9, 6% HR/FB) has allowed him to succeed despite the paltry K-BB rate.

John Brebbia, STL | 21% K-BB

He had a solid follow up to his rookie campaign and looks like a steady middle piece in the Cards bullpen.

Richard Rodriguez, PIT | 32% K, 25% K-BB

He matched or bested closer Felipe Vazquez across the board this year and could become a viable closer candidate himself next year.

Michael Lorenzen, CIN | hit 4 HR

That I’m highlighting the four homers a reliever hit speaks to Cincy’s pitching in 2018.

Scott Oberg, COL | 0.98 WHIP, 2.57 ERA

Unfortunately his efforts couldn’t counterbalance the meltdowns of Shaw (5.93 ERA) and McGee (6.43 ERA).

Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD | 2.00 ERA, 24% K-BB in 76 IP

A left groin strain ate up three months of time and kept him from having a truly game-changing season.

Clay Buchholz, ARI | 2.01 ERA, 1.04 WHIP

A late-season elbow injury cut his season short, but he was excellent for 98 innings thanks to a cutter-changeup combo that kept him ahead in counts (68% 1st-pitch strike) and made him difficult to square up (.217 AVG).

Tony Watson, SF | 1.05 WHIP, 22% K-BB

Labored through a 1.38 WHIP and 11% K-BB (lowest since ’11) last year, but regained his changeup this year and became a force yet again.

Kirby Yates, SD | 36% K, 0.92 WHIP

Curbed his HR issues from last year (1.9 to 0.9 HR/9) and now looks like a viable closer option for the future (and did the job well from August on with 9 SV in 10 opps.)

Who’s your favorite from this list and did I miss anyone you really liked?





Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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TheTinDoormember
5 years ago

German Marquez. He was *on my team* for the last 6 weeks or so, and I still didn’t realize exactly how amazing he’s been.

Season long 3.76 ERA/1.20 WHIP in Coors is solid but not eye-popping. Obviously the Ks of 27.8% .

2nd half: split? He’s the 2nd-best pitcher in the league, behind only DeGrom, half-win better than Scherzer. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2018&month=31&season1=2018&ind=0&team=&rost=&age=0&filter=&players=

2.55 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 33% Ks, 6.39 K/BB.

Gavin
5 years ago
Reply to  TheTinDoor

He was unbelievable down the stretch. I hope my league forgets about that at the draft.

docgooden85member
5 years ago
Reply to  TheTinDoor

True story. When Bauer and Paxton went down unexpectedly in the late summer, Marquez and Wheeler carried the load down the homestretch for my Ninja Blacksox fantasy team. Those guys were downright heroic over the last 2 months. (And Baseball Stars for NES is still the best baseball video game ever and forever.)