What The Hell Is Wrong With My Pitching Staff?

[YankFan51]

Mark Buerhlie, Wade Miller, Curt Schilling, Jarrod Washburn, and Josh Beckett. I'm getting nothing from these guys, aside from Schilling. That shouldn't be a bad staff.

[bleach168]

It's not a bad staff at all. As long as you don't expect this staff to win all the pitching categories you'll do fine. I think you've just had a few too many injuries so far.

[Guest]

You're in a tough spot, YankFan. I think that all of your SPs have a strong chance of coming together & putting up good numbers in the coming months. But for the time being, you're going to experience some tough weeks while some of your guys get healthy/fixed/whatever.

I'd recommend that you ride it out with the guys you have. It won't be easy, but I think that's your best course of action.

[drunkenmonkey]

Wow. Now if you would have had Derek Lowe instead of Schilling I would have been really impressed.

[titanut]

Nice touch Drunken Monkey, I needed a laugh

[Josh]

i know how you feel, I have oswalt, miller, and beckett also. They have been very frustrating, but I am holding out hope they come around, I am still in 1st with them, so hoping they get it together.

[Super GM]

Seems like half your staff is either on the DL or slumping. If you'd have Greg Maddux on your staff it would really round it out....

[mightyian5]

the best idea is just to stick with them. if youre in first now, then when they decide to get it together, youll be unstopable.

[Beat]

If you think thats bad I Have/Had Beckett, Burnett, Halladay, Lawrence, Driefort, & Clement. You want to talk about slumping or gimpy.

[sinicalypse]

Mark Buerhlie, Wade Miller, Curt Schilling, Jarrod Washburn, and Josh Beckett. I'm getting nothing from these guys, aside from Schilling. That shouldn't be a bad staff.

buehrle - has pitched decently, but has had a propensity to give up the longball (8 HR in ~50 IP, multiply that by 4, you're looking at 32.. whereas in the last two years he has given up 24 or 25). his strikeout #s, while never having been spectacular, are down. the sox haven't given him any offense either. it's basically the opposite of last season, where he got all the run support and the other sox starters were left out to dry. his era is at 3.86, so i wouldn't panic and eject him until the sox are dead in the water and he's sporting a 4.5 era.

wade miller - i'm never entirely sold on this guy. i rode him in '01, but i remember his era rising upwards to 3.40 when he was a shoo-in for 4 ER per start near the end of that season. commentators love to marvel over his electric stuff, but i don't have him ranked that highly as a pitcher. i can think of a whole bunch of people i'd rather have before him. i think he will have his moments, but don't be surprised if he ends up something like 12-13 with a 4.15 era, because i don't think this guy is unhittable and a sure thing to win 15 with a sub 3.5 era.

schill - welp, he's strung together two great outings, most recently going into philly with the trade rumours a-swirlin' and pitched some damn fine baseball. still, i don't think he's an upper tier pitcher... i think he's going to have at least 80% as many 5 ER games as he will have 1 run or shutouts. i see schill something like 17-10 with a 3.6 era and 285 strikeouts. he's no spring chicken, so he might be succeptible to injury. still, the guy works hard and studies tape, all in all doing his homework, so he should be ok.

jarrod washburn - i was never a giant fan of this guy, much like wade miller. i think he's a 3.75ish era guy who will win 10-15 depending on how well his offense produces runs for him. last season was his career year to date, he maintained a 1.1something whip while lowering his era to 3.15. i don't think he'll end up with a sub 3.5 era, but he's a decent pitcher on a fantasy squad. he likely won't kill you, but i don't think he'll be an 18 win saviour like he was last season.

josh beckett - an enigma, at least for me. the kid's a much heralded prospect, but has yet to put together a whole season of dominance. he stormed out of the gates at the end of '01 and got many people excited.. but last year he got roughed up a bit, was a decent 4.10 era with a 6-7 record... but he has yet to show dominating control. his K/BB ratio is 2.something, and has been pretty consistently that since entering the majors. his whip looks like it'll be in the 1.1 to 1.2 range, but he has yet to establish a consistent pattern that you can for sure speculate on. also, he's had these little piddly injuries that seem to plague the marlins. blisters here, sprained elbows there... so in reality, the kid's got upside.. he might be able to come out of nowhere and have a 15-7 3.25 era season with 140 K and ~30-40 walks.. but he's more of a gamble than a sure thing, as you'll spend more time hoping that he can pitch with dominance as opposed to knowing that he could.

so as it stands, schill is your only sure thing, and the other guys are either somewhat pitched over their heads last season (washburn, miller) or haven't proven that they can put up a darn good season (beckett). and i dont think schilling is going to win a cy young award this season, despite some looks at what he can do over his last two starts.

so your staff is decent... solid, you know? i dont think it will be the main reason that you'd win a fantasy baseball crown, however, if you have a killer offense, this pitching staff should be decent enough to keep your pitching stats afloat, allowing your offense to dominate. if your offense isn't one of the top 3 in the league, you have to hope that these guys get it all togeter, or make some deft trades to make your pitching staff work your team's way to the top.