Roto Chronicles — April 21 (Practice Patience with your Pitching)

Fantasy Baseball is a marathon, not a race.
There has been a lot of confusion about the acronyms and terms that are used when associated with pitchers. This week, I veer away from my weekly Roto Rut and Roto Royalty column to break down the most commonly used acronyms used with pitchers and their fantasy implications.

The most commonly used acronym used is ERA. This translates to Earned Run Average, which is calculated as such: “ERA = 9 x ER/IP (Innings Pitched)”. Unearned runs don’t affect the ERA, nor does if affect the WHIP (to be explained later). A common misnomer about whether a pitcher is good is if he has an ERA of 3.00 or less. Though that marks the pitcher as good, pitchers that pitch in the 4.50 range is just as good and have good fantasy implications. They can pick up a win even if they pitched poorly that day or they can even have a low WHIP average and still get a loss. It’s all about balance in fantasy baseball so if one number is higher than what you’re comfortable with consider the pitcher’s other stats. Wins are almost as valuable as the ERA. Pitchers that can hit (to be explained later) is also as valuable.

The second most used acronym is the WHIP. This is the Walks or Hits per Innings Pitched. This is calculated as “WHIP = BB + H/IP”. This stat isn’t widely talked about, but rightfully so. It is confusing to talk about someone’s WHIP, but when it’s regarding fantasy stats, WHIP is pretty important. The lowest WHIP on record to finish a season was pitched by Pedro Martinez, then with the Boston Red Sox, in the midst of the so-called Steroids Era. His finishing WHIP average was a 0.7373. That meant on average he gave up less than a hit or walk in each inning pitched. Not bad.

CG, or Complete Games are a stat when talking about baseball as well. Though these happen very rarely in baseball today, due to saving the arms of pitchers, everything has to go right for the pitcher to achieve this. Usually, this means that the pitcher will have a good WHIP and ERA in the game. While pitch count isn’t a stat in fantasy or otherwise, they have to keep it down below 120 to keep the arm from going sore and risk missing their next start. A pitcher averages 2 complete games per season. If you have a pitcher that goes over that, he’s worth keeping.

K, or strikeouts are up there in importance. It doesn’t matter how the batter is struck out, as long as he’s K’d, you’ll get the credit for it. This also helps bring down their WHIP average, which many of the times bring down the ERA. You know where I’m going with this.

Holds. Holds are common in fantasy and that goes to show you can’t win a fantasy league of starting pitching alone. Holds are designed for a relief pitcher to come in and preserve a game, usually in the later innings. The commonly used term for this kind of pitcher is the set-up man. They come in late and usually pitch one or two innings depending on the situation and tries to maintain the lead. If he is successful, they get credited with a hold. Even if the closer fails in finishing out the game and the team loses, the set-up man still gets the hold.

Balks. Balks happen very rarely, but in the stat books for fantasy and otherwise, Balks count as an error, though it won’t show up as an error in the box score. This still does affect the pitcher’s WHIP. The most common balk happens when a pitcher starts his pitching motion toward the plate and then doesn’t follow through. There are a number of other balk rules, but I’ll stick with one for example’s sake. Many leagues won’t count this and rightfully so. In today’s game, it seems the pitcher looking at the umpire incorrectly warrants a balk call.

Passed Balls/Wild Pitch. When a pitch entirely gets past a catcher and the runner advances a wild pitch or passed ball is given to the pitcher. This is also not counted in many leagues, and this is also rare.

Pitchers that can bat. In many NL-only leagues this stat is high up in importance. Though it’s rare that a pitcher can hit, there are those that have respectable averages with some having legitimate homerun power.

Let’s examine a list of some current starting pitchers and examine their stats.

Outstanding Pitchers:

Ben Sheets: He’s sporting a very good ERA in .96 and an even better WHIP average of .67. He has 24 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched. Also, he is undefeated with a 3-0 record. Though he doesn’t have a complete game, he is still a dominating pitcher and earning fantasy owners valuable points.

Johann Santana: His ERA is a little higher than your typical Santana with a 3.25, but his WHIP should stand out to you with a .87. He was in my Royalty section two weeks ago and he’s tailed off a little bit since then, but when I mean a little from Santana, I truly do mean a little. He’s 2-2, but has 28 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched, thus averaging a strikeout per inning. While Santana made the leap from leagues, he is still getting adjusted to batters and the different strategy used for batters in the bottom of the order.

Adam Wainwright: Wainwright is a young pitcher that has a dominating curve ball, and it shows in his current stats. He is 2-1, but his ERA is lower than Santana’s with a 2.78. He’s not a dominating strikeout pitcher (16), but he can get batters out. His WHIP stands at a 1.06 and if you give him more time he is most likely to have a career year with the Cardinals. He is a key factor in why the Cardinals are leading their division.

Brandon Webb: He currently has a 4-0 record and a 1.86 ERA. His blazing fastball and control of the plate has attributed to his .79 WHIP. He looks to be the dominant pitcher from last season and has no signs of slowing down. This makes him a pretty trendy, and keepable fantasy player. He doesn’t walk a lot of batters, only walking 8 through 29 innings. This helps keep his WHIP down and your points up.

Tim Hudson: Though his ERA is a 3.38, he has a WHIP of .88. He doesn’t strikeout a lot of players, but he does get outs when he needs them. He was roughed up against Florida in his opening start, but he has improved drastically since then. Once an ace for the A’s where he averaged 7 strikeouts a game, his form hasn’t changed much, but his walks (3) and strikeouts (13) are down, however, don’t let that discourage you. He’ll be okay barring he stays off the DL.

Pitchers with Balance:

Odalis Perez: His 0-3 record isn’t very good, but he can strikeout batters (20). Part of his 0-3 start is the offensive support he gets from his team. The Nationals score 2 runs a game when he takes the mound. However, what should stick out to you is his ERA of 3.38. Even though his WHIP is .154, he ERA is low enough to balance out an out of normal WHIP average. Once the Nationals can figure out how to score, he’s worth picking up or keeping.

Carlos Zambrano: He’s in my average section primarily because he wasn’t the strikeout machine he was last season. He has 23 in 26 1/3 innings pitched, which is good, but to counter balance that, his WHIP is 1.13. He often pitches into jams, but he can get out of them fairly quickly. His velocity has dropped off in recent years, and now batters are taking advantage of that. However, he does have 2 wins to show for it and a very low 3.04 ERA. It doesn’t get more balanced than that.

Aaron Harang: Harang has a great ERA in 2.38, and a great WHIP in .96, but he has two losses. Like Perez, his team can’t seem to find the plate when he pitches. Even though his ERA is low, he has given up 5 homeruns this season. He is susceptible to the long ball, but as evidenced from his numbers, he can keep most batters at bay. He is the ace of the Reds’ staff, but his team needs to produce more runs for him in order to be effective for your fantasy roster.

Aaron Cook: His strikeout totals don’t overwhelm you (12 in 26 innings pitched), but you have to admire his ERA (3.12) and his WHIP (1.08). Cook also has two wins to wins in his repertoire, but one amazing fact is when he takes the mound, the Rockies score 7 + runs a game.

Mark Hendrickson: This guy is about average as it gets, but like Cook, he can’t strike anybody out. He has a respectable 3.97 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.30. Sure, he may not be a long term solution for your roster, but he is consistent enough to get you a decent outing every time up. Did I mention he has a 3-1 record? He has pitched at least to the 5th inning in all of his starts and if he can control his sporadic pitching, he’ll be a keeper.

Remember, holds and saves are just as important as the stats that a starting pitcher gives. Relievers have the same stats as those of the starting pitchers, so evaluate your relievers the same as you would a starter. One thing to keep in mind about fantasy baseball is that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Be patient with pitchers more so than batters. It often takes a month or two for a pitcher to find his groove. A traditionally good pitcher that starts slowly is John Smoltz. Look at his history and you’ll see that his first month is typically slow. Numbers are deceiving when it comes to pitching so be careful not to drop any player too quickly. Sit them on the bench if you have to, but giving up valuable pitching can make or break your season. There are hidden gems on every team. Make sure you research their numbers, but also look at the team to which they won or lost. Did they go against a strong hitting club? Did they get run support? Is he partially injured? Ask yourself these valuable questions before deciding to use him as trade bait or drop him on the waiver wire.

Up-and-Coming Player

This week’s pick is Johnny Cueto, Rookie pitcher for the Reds. Cueto made headlines in his first start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cueto pitched 7 innings, struck out 10 and only gave up one run, which was a homerun by Justin Upton; ironically it was the only hit he surrendered. He is sporting a smooth .96 WHIP and he leads the NL with 29 strikeouts. Cueto is already being talked about to be in the National League Rookie of the Year race. While it’s too early to tell, he has the upside, a wicked slider, and fastball to make him a legitimate pitching threat. He has a 1-1 record, but he strikes out batters and he has excellent command of the strike zone. He’s surrendered 3 walks in 26.1 innings. That’s not bad. While he only has 1 win, his other numbers should impress you. Take a chance on him, and hope that the Reds can give him offense behind him.