By Dan O’Shea
Some of oldest and most-well traveled pitchers in baseball are generating some good fantasy value this year:
* Bartolo Colon, SP, NYM: The 42-year-old has a lot of fans, though mostly because they like to engage in immature mockery of the rotund ace’s hitting and running adventures. As a former and current fat kid, I can tell you revenge is a dish best served to yourself in multiple helpings – oh, and with wins and strikeouts. Colon already has seven wins and 52 strikeouts, and though a rough patch recently raised his ERA to 4.82, he’s resilient, having started 30-plus games each of the last two years. Still available in more than 25% of Yahoo! leagues.
* A.J. Burnett, SP, PIT: The 38-year-old is not as widely available, but has won four in a row this month after failing to get a win in April – not that it was his fault. His current 1.37 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .225 batting average against are all way, way better than his career averages. Still available in more than 15% of Yahoo! leagues.
* Aaron Harang, SP, ATL: The 37-year-old has pitched six or more innings in all 10 of his starts, giving up a grand total of just five earned runs in his last five starts. His 1.93 ERA and 1.03 WHIP are the main attractions, though his win pace (currently 4-3) would increase if he gets traded to a contender. Still available in more than 25% of Yahoo! leagues.
* Chris Young, SP/RP, KC: The 36-year-old is the baby of this group, though it sure seems like he’s been around forever, battling long-term injuries and picking up with teams as a free agent at the last minute. That’s what happened this year with KC, which hired him for the bullpen. With injuries in the rotation, he has gotten four starts, won all of them, and sports a 0.93 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. He’s supported by one of the league’s top offenses. Still available in more than 35% of Yahoo! leagues.
Expert Wire
* ESPN has updated its Top 250 fantasy baseball rankings. This post also feature a lengthy discussion of data analysis techniques, including the validity of using a two-month split to project an entire season, so set aside a Saturday afternoon for that. I feel going back 30 days tells me almost everything I need to know about the next 30 days – and that’s all I want to know.
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Dan O’Shea is our man in fantasyland. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on May 27, 2015