Please help me evalueate my pitching staff

[minnehan]

My Little PONY league, 15 team mixed, nine P slots.


Noah Syndergaard --my anchor
Joey Lucchesi
Eric Lauer [I--]loving these two left-handers[/I]
Yusei Kikuchi
Sonny Gray
Zach Eflin
Matt Strahm
Brandon Woodruff
Jonathan Loaisiga
Ryan Brasier
Ryan Pressly
Brad Boxberger/Wily Peralta --hedging my bet, thinking Peralta ends up with the job
Zach Britton --hoping he'll get traded

I know I shouda gone the extra few bucks for a good closer, but they just went for way too much in my opinion, leaving me with Brasier and Pressly as wanta-be closers. I realise chasing saves will be difficult for my squad, but maybe I'll get lucky. I'm heavy on hitting, so maybe I can trade for a decent closer. Sounds like many of these pitchers here have had a good Spring, but who knows. If you inherited this pitching lot, what would you do? Any advice/comments most welcome. Thanks guys!

[ssmallz]

Seems pretty weak, I hope you have a killer offense. I like the upside but outside of syndergaard everyone else is question marks

[joncarlos]

Britton was a free agent and the Yankees just signed him. If anyone wanted him, they would have signed him rather than give up assets for him. With Betances hurt, he does move up the hierarchy.

Thor is a solid #1. You don't have a #2. I'm not sure I'd count Kikuchi as a #3. So you have a bunch of really nice #4 starters, many of whom might pitch more like #3s. And not many saves. Or maybe a bunch of saves. Who knows? And Pressly, who helps cover up a lot of ratio issues.

If it was my team I would try to sell ultra-high on Strahm and buy low on someone who had a chance to be a #2. Or stand pat and hope someone gets off to a hot start so I could trade them.

[joncarlos]

While I would definitely NOT recommend relying on only once voice, here's what I mean about lacking the upper middle guys. By rank on Paul Sporer's latest SP list (https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/2019-s...cher-rankings/)

Thor - 5
Kikuchi - 46
Lucchesi - 52
Strahm - 55
Gray - 60
Woodruff - 72
Eflin - 76
Lauer - 126

We certainly don't do even distributions in PONY, and having four guys in the 46-60 range helps, but an even distribution would give everyone a pitcher in the 1-15 range, a pitcher in the 16-30 range, a pitcher in a 31-45 range, etc.

[Sharky]

I like Thor and Woodruff. Not a Kikuchi fan (love the name though). Lucchesi can’t go deep into games. Gray a crazy risk. So overall need a solid #2.

[The Dane]

Okay, for a 15-team mixer, the whole staff seems weak. Here's my take on the NL properties I know.

Noah Syndergaard. STUD. No discussion necessary.

Joey Lucchesi/Eric Lauer/Matt Strahm. It's THREE left-handers, and the one you left out may end up the best get. I usually try to steer away from getting more than one or two starters from one squad. Essentially, the entire fortunes of your staff are predicated upon 3/5 of San Diego Padres games. Holy hell. My brain can't manage the statistical parkour it takes to figure it out, but that is not a winning formula. None of Marlins pitchers were available?

That was a joke. I actually really like all three of these Padres arms, but they won't get you enough wins. Ratios will be okay. Strikeouts will be okay. Park is helpful. And owning these guys in 2020 or 2021 may be a ticket for a title, but for now, they're just interesting young arms on a young and interesting, but lousy-for-now team.

Sonny Gray. It's all about health. If he's healthy, you may have found your #2. Trouble is, he won't be healthy. I do think that the games he does play, he'll be fine.

Zach Eflin. Not a believer. He's a #4 on a second-division squad. The Phillies are all-in. He won't be starting mid-season. He'll be lucky to still have a job. I think VV will be gone too. Unless, that is, he taps into some previous unforeseen well of baseball acumen and beats up on the NL East.

Brandon Woodruff. A fine risk. A shaky pitcher, but on a team that needs starting pitching like no other team. Good news is MIL will rely on a dynamite bullpen, so he'll likely get pulled before shit goes bad and his ratios should be sweet without that dark exposure. Bad news is he'll get pulled a lot, so wins will be tough to come by.

[harmon]

Re Woodruff.....I hear what you're saying, but if he can go 5 with a lead he should pick up some wins with that offense and bullpen. As opposed to deGrom last year who lost countless wins because of lack of same.

[minnehan]

This was my first venture into spending my auction dollars heavily on batters (heavier than usual for me). All of these pitchers were relatively inexpensive. I basically did a 70-30 split (which includes my $30 Ohtani kept as a pitcher, otherwise it's closer to a 80-20 split). Syndergaard was a cheap keeper. I should have spent my money better during the auction, especially in dollar daze. I'll have to try to trade for pitching help. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts.

[minnehan]

I know my pitching staff is considered "weak," and yeah, I don't have a number 2 or 3 starter, but it's what I have now, and I'm not feeling bad about them. We'll see how this plays out. I'll ride the wavier wire and add as I can, but we'll see.

[Mithrandir]

This was my first venture into spending my auction dollars heavily on batters (heavier than usual for me). All of these pitchers were relatively inexpensive. I basically did a 70-30 split (which includes my $30 Ohtani kept as a pitcher, otherwise it's closer to a 80-20 split). Syndergaard was a cheap keeper. I should have spent my money better during the auction, especially in dollar daze. I'll have to try to trade for pitching help. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts.

Your problem was keeping Ohtani for $30. Sorry, but that's nuts.

[Gregg]

Your problem was keeping Ohtani for $30. Sorry, but that's nuts.

Yep, As a pitcher only there is no reason to keep him. Easily could get him back for a lot less. This crippled you at auction.

[KnuckleBalls]

Ohtani is not pitcher only in this particular league. A bold strategy for sure to go that light on pitching. You will have a lot of ifs and butts but hell, don't we all. I would definitely look to unload a bat though.

[mgwiz22]

You seem to have punted wins.

[minnehan]

Ok, listening to you all, I made a bold trade to upgrade my pitching staff... I traded Blackmon for Kluber.

[Ken]

Ok, listening to you all, I made a bold trade to upgrade my pitching staff... I traded Blackmon for Kluber.

Seems fair, good move.