Pitchers
Just one look at Tuesday’s injury report from Michael A. Stein here on Fantasy Alarm shows you why we are talking about pitchers that could come up for a second time in three weeks (with draft coverage in between). Pitchers are dropping like flies early in the season, with Walker Buehler landing on the DL that is the sixth starter to land there only on the Dodgers, that doesn’t even include the Mets (who have several too). Some of the issues extend to the minors with several higher-level options injured as well so we will be touching on some guys that may not stick long-term.
Mitchell White (RHP LAD) - White was the 65th overall pick in the 2016 draft after starring in the Santa Clara rotation, two years removed from a Tommy John surgery. At 6’4” and 207 lb. he profiles as a solidly built starter in the major leagues and uses his frame to get nice run and sink on his pitches. The offerings in his repertoire include three plus-pitches of a sinking 92-97 mph fastball, an 88 mph power slider that has nice late life to it and can become a cutter occasionally, and a true hammer of a curve. The changeup is still being refined but if he can bring it to the level of the others, that gives him a fourth out pitch. White threw 73 innings in 2017 between Rookie ball, Advanced-A, and Double-A even with missing two months due to a broken toe. This year he has started, and remains, at Double-A Tulsa where he’s posted a 6.08 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 26.2 IP with a 9.45 K/9 and 6.08 BB/9 which are all not great (save for the solid K-rate). He has some command problems to sort out clearly but he has the stuff to get guys out at prodigious rates as between 2016 and 2017 61% of the batters that faced either struck out or grounded out with weak contact. If LA is desperate, and they are, White could be called up for a taste of the show.
Sandy Alcantara (RHP MIA) - Alcantara was received by the Marlins in the Marcell Ozuna trade in December. Alcantara had previously come up in September with the Cardinals to get some work in out of the St. Louis pen, which went okay. Overall though he has impressive stuff including a 70-grade fastball that sits 95-99 mph consistently with two different breaking pitches (a curveball, and slider), and a 88-91 mph changeup. The problem for him is that the command and control is just not there. In his three full seasons, he’s never posted a BB/9 of less than 3.5 and his K/9 has fluctuated between 6.5 to 11.86 with an ERA consistently in the high threes and a WHIP of 1.3 for his career. The Marlins are clearly not a good team this year, though better than some thought they would be, but at this point there is no playing time issue with controllability so later this summer, Alcantara should showcase his stuff in Miami.
Shane Bieber (RHP CLE) - Bieber made a spot start a week or so ago for the Indians before heading to Triple-A afterward. The spot start didn’t go quite so well lasting 5.2 innings and giving up eight hits, four earned runs (two homers), one walk, and six strikeouts. Prior to that spot start he had a strong season going in the minors with a combined 6-1 record over 12 starts between Double-A and Triple-A and 76.2 innings, an ERA of 1.29, 72 Ks, a.191 BAA, six walks, and a 0.77 WHIP. Bieber is a big time control guy with a 70-grade tool in that category with three above-average pitches to work from. The overall velocity isn’t there but his stuff plays up because of how he controls his pitches (a career 0.5 BB/9 rate in the minors). Currently Adam Plutko is filling the fifth starter spot in Cleveland, but he isn’t fairing much better than Bieber did, so there is a chance that the 23-year-old righty gets another shot by the lake given his lack of struggles against Triple-A hitters.
Yonny Chirinos (RHP TB) - Tampa Bay has been decimated in the pitching department this year and currently has just two starters listed on their depth chart on mlb.com. It could be time to call-up some reinforcements as three-straight bullpen days are nobody’s idea of a good time. Chirinos was up with the team early in the season and pitched six games for them, five starts, and went 0-1 with a 3.71 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 24:9 K:BB ratio, and a .255 BAA. Then he was sent to Triple-A Durham where he has put up similar numbers in three starts for the Bulls. While his stuff isn’t elite by any stretch, his control is and that plays at any level, even helping his stuff play up to big league hitters. The above-average fastball, slider, changeup combo he possesses has been good enough to keep batters off balance in the minors and places him at the backend of an MLB rotation. Why are the Rays likely to call up a guy who’s a fifth starter? Well Brent Honeywell and Anthony Banda are both out for the year with injuries and thus Chirinos is the closest to MLB ready in the system.
Luis Ortiz (RHP MIL) - Ortiz went to the Brewers in the Jonathon Lucroy-Jeremy Jeffress trade in 2016 that also brought Lewis Brinson to the Brewers. He was thought to be a front of the first round type pitcher coming out of high school, but slipped to the 30th overall pick in the 2014 draft due to forearm tightness late in his senior campaign. Since turning pro, he’s pitched mostly at Double-A with Texas and then Double-A Biloxi in 2016, 2017, and 2018 in the Brewers system. In that span of 151.2 IP in Biloxi he posted a 3.39 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and a 7.9 K/9 rate which are all pretty respectable numbers in 30 starts and four additional relief appearances. Ortiz hasn’t gone passed Double-A though so he may be the longest shot on the list to come up soon, but the Brewers are in the playoff hunt and have a few starters on the DL who could still be out for a while yet. Overall he profiles as a number-three starter with a plus fastball at 92-97 mph and a plus slider that works in the low-80s while mixing in average curveballs and changeups every so often.
Caleb Ferguson (LHP LAD) - We are bookending with Dodgers this week, as they only have three starters listed on their depth chart, including Ferguson. Now Ferguson has already started two games in the bigs at the time of writing this and they haven’t gone well, lasting just 5.2 IP total in those starts while allowing 12 base runners (seven hits, five walks), posting a .318 BAA, a 9.53 ERA, and a 2.12 WHIP. He did however strikeout six guys. He was taken in the 38th round of the 2014 draft, number 1,149 overall, so for him to even make the majors is remarkable, let alone by age 21 and with just one season of more than 100 innings under his belt as well. The southpaw, the best in their system by the way, uses a three-pitch mix that is anchored by a low 90s fastball that touches 95 and is tough to square up, generally, while also using an upper-70s curveball as a counterbalance to the fastball. His changeup has nice fade to it but he doesn’t yet have the confidence in it to throw as often as he probably should. Clearly his brief time in the majors hasn’t gone well, but his FIP is 4.69 compared to that 9.53 ERA and the 2017 season did see him post a 2.87 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, and 9-4 record on his stat line, so there’s something there to work with, maybe just not right now.