After a questionable 2016 season as far as elitedom goes, Jake Arrieta is really starting to make owners worry as he put up a line of 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks yesterday against the Red Sox. My assessment of Arrieta entering the year was that his command wasn't going to get fixed but his stuff is good enough to give you quality outings even when he's not dotting the plate like 2015. I'm not here to telling you that Arrieta is outside the Top 25, but I will say that I'm questioning his Top 15 ranking right now. His best pitch in 2015 was his Slutter that was just unbelievably good. It seems like his command of it has gotten even worse than his struggles from 2016 and now he's had to focus more on Changeups and Curveballs to make up for it. That doesn't seem like a good idea, but here is the interesting part. He's throwing more Sinkers for strikes - that's excellent - and he's using his Changeup more often which has a 20.0% whiff rate and 50.0% O-Swing - that's elite. The question is if he can use his Curveball and/or Changeup - or hell, why not his Slutter? - as a strike-getter inside of the zone. Arrieta needs that second pitch to rely on for a strike and it's totally possible he does that. It seems he's already moving toward changing his approach and if that means more of a Fastball/Changeup combo that Fastball/Slider, he can still be elite. So I'm conflicted. I want to say that he can rebound and adapt, on the other hand I still worry about his overall command and he clearly isn't 2015 without that Slider. He's a risky buy and it really depends on the risk/reward situation in your league. I'm super curious to see how this plays out rest of the year.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
How about a Maeda for Villar trade? Is that comparable? Do you see Villar still putting up 40+ steals?
I’d definitely deal Maeda for Villar.
In a tough situation. I’ve got 5 players on the DL and 4 of them using the DL slots. Haniger is on the DL but the odd man out on my bench without a DL slot.
Sanchez comes back tomorrow. I need to make room for him. Currently Cam Bedrosian and Sanchez are taking up two DL slots for pitching. I could drop Ervin Santana and make room for Sanchez or drop Bedrosian and keep both Santana and Sanchez by moving Haniger to the DL after dropping Bedrosian.
This is my current pitching lineup.
SPs are:
– Carlos Martínez
– Jon Lester
– Michael Fulmer
– José Quintana
– Clayton Kershaw
– Aaron Sanchez (DL)
RPs are:
– Cam Bedrosian (DL)
– Adam Ottavino (for holds)
– Greg Holland
– Addison Reed (for holds and occasional save)
– Héctor Neris
– Edwin Díaz
Suggestions? I hate to let Santana go after his hot streak right now. He’s saved me with a few of this games in the past 2 weeks.
Sorry forgot to include Santana, but I think you get the idea.
SPs are:
– Carlos Martínez
– Ervin Santana
– Jon Lester
– Michael Fulmer
– José Quintana
– Clayton Kershaw
– Aaron Sanchez (DL)
Bedrosian
Not a fan of Samardzija either but I did notice his 3.38 xFIP and 3.45 SIERA. Do you think his name value will keep from getting good value in a cheap trade? Not to mention the good start he just put up.