At least through the end of April, this has been a good year for bounceback pitchers. Gerrit Cole seems to have recaptured his 2015 form after an injury-plagued 2016, as has former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, who dealt with injuries of his own last season.
Let's hope we can make it a trifecta with the imminent return of Sonny Gray from a lat injury. Gray made his second minor-league rehab start Thursday at Triple-A Nashville, striking out seven and allowing just two hits over 77 pitches. He hasn't pitched since the spring, and is coming off a 5.69 ERA in 2016, but Gray is someone who Fantasy owners can't forget about if he's sitting there on waivers.
Gray finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2015, on the strength of a 2.73 ERA in 208 innings of work. He had a 3.08 ERA in 219 innings the previous season, so that was no fluke. Gray isn't an ace -- he doesn't have the strikeout rate to be one of the best in baseball -- but he limits hard contact and plays in one of the best pitcher's parks in baseball, a combination that has made him a solid Fantasy option in the past.
Gray isn't available everywhere, but he is only owned in 73 percent of CBSSports.com leagues, which means there might be a chance he's fallen through the cracks in yours. He was reportedly sitting in the mid-90's with his fastball yesterday, and could be back in time for Tuesday's game against Minnesota, a pretty soft landing spot. There's no guarantee Gray recaptures his 2015 form, but if he's available for free on waivers, he's well worth taking the flier on.
| 59% |
Michael Conforto
N.Y. Mets CF
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| We've featured Michael Conforto in this spot a number of times in the last few weeks, but I suspect this will be the last time he's featured. With Yoenis Cespedes likely heading to the DL with what looks this time to be a pretty serious hamstring injury, he should have an everyday job for the Mets for the forseeable future, so it's now or never for his Fantasy value. He either hits enough to force the Mets to keep him in the starting lineup long term, in which case he will undoubtedly be universally owned across Fantasy leagues, or he has a repeat of 2016, when he just can't cut it. Either way, Conforto, at just 59 percent owned, is worth taking a chance on, because we're about to find out how good he is. | |
| 18% |
Archie Bradley
Arizona RP
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| Archie Bradley has, so far in his major-league career, struggled when asked to start. He made 34 starts between 2015 and 2016, and hardly looked like one of the most talented young pitchers in baseball; he sported a 5.18 ERA and walked 4.5 batters per nine innings in those starts. Bradley showed a pretty average fastball, one he was capable of dialing up the mid-90's when needed, but one that also got hit hard and rarely picked up swinging strikes. He has looked like a different pitcher in 2016, adding nearly 3 mph to that fastball, while doubling his swinging strike rate. Now, of course, Bradley has been pitching out of the bullpen, which could explain the increase in velocity, however he has also been pitching multiple innings at a time, so he might be more capable of sustaining these velocity increases than you might think if he moved to the rotation. There is talk of that happening, and Bradley has shown enough in the early going that I'm going to keep an eye on him. It could fail spectacularly, or he could be this year's Danny Duffy, who sustained most of his velocity gains after moving from the bullpen to the rotation, and became a Fantasy difference maker. I'm intrigued to see if Bradley can pull off the same trick. | |
| 12% |
Scott Schebler
Cincinnati RF
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| Scott Schebler looked like a major-league player in 2016, hitting nine homers in 82 games as a rookie, but he hardly looked like a difference maker. This may just be a hot start, but he's already up to seven homers in 21 games in 2017, and this isn't necessarily coming out of nowhere. He obviously plays in a great park in Cincinnati, one that has boosted power for years, but he also has a pretty decent track record as a power hitter. Schebler combined for 55 homers between his 2013 and 2014 seasons in the minors, and averaged 22 per-150 games in the minors overall. He has an above average batted ball exit velocity, per Statcast, and has dramatically increased his flyball rate from a year ago. Schebler probably won't ever hit for much average, but he is in a good situation in Cincy, and might just be a solid source of cheap power all season long. | |
| 18% |
Justin Wilson
Detroit RP
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| The Tigers haven't given any reason to believe Francisco Rodriguez is going to lose his job, but Rodriguez hasn't exactly given you much reason to be optimistic. He has allowed runs in six of his nine appearances, and this doesn't appear to be just a string of bad luck; Rodriguez has lost more than one mph on his fastball in the early going, a bad sign for a 35-year-old who hasn't exactly been lights out in recent years. Maybe he keeps the job in the long run, but he hardly looks like he deserves to, so if you're looking to speculate on saves, this isn't a bad place to do it. Justin Wilson has been lights out in 11 appearances so far, striking out 15 in 9 2/3 shutout innings, and looks like he should be next in line if K-Rod loses the job. Wilson has had his own issues with consistency over the years, but strikes out more than a batter per inning consistently, and had a 3.10 ERA as recently as 2015. He isn't a bad option if you're looking to stash someone. | |