Spring brings a new life and with it comes baseball optimism for many, but don’t be fooled. One start could be reason for optimism with a starting pitcher but it is no reason to shake up your fantasy squad this early in the season. Not to use a tired cliché, but the season is a marathon and not a sprint. Proceed with caution on these two pitchers who have started the season looking good.
Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher – Chad Billingsley
I always felt Billingsley could be a solid guy in anyone’s rotation. His main issue has been consistency. When Billingsley is “locked in”, there are not too many starters in the game who can mow down a lineup as efficiently as him. The fact that he has started the season so well should not make you go into a frenzy, consider yourself fortunate. Billingsley is now 2-0 on the young season with 15 K’s and 0.63 ERA and 0.63 WHIP. These numbers are remarkable, but were in starts against the light-hitting Padres and Pirates. His numbers are sure to return closer to his career averages of a 3.65 ERA and 1.36 WHIP and his 15 strikeouts are right on line with his career average of 7.5 K’s/start.
In a nutshell, Billingsley can flash brilliance but is highly inconsistent. It could be that he goes on to have a career year but be sure that his ERA and WHIP have nowhere to go but up. He is owned in 100% of ESPN fantasy leagues. If you have Billingsley, keep him maybe consider selling him “high”. But don’t make a regrettable move trying to acquire a guy after two solid starts.
Fantasy Baseball Starting Pitcher – Jeff Samardzija
Samardzija is a highly talented pitcher with a nice repertoire of pitches. One thing that the Cubs have had issues with since his major league debut is how to use the power right-hander. Bullpen? Starter? Closer? They have no idea and none of this is Samardzija’s fault. To his credit he has started the season in the Cubs rotation and has started 2-0 with 13 K’s and a 3.95 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. These are very impressive numbers for a guy that I believe should be in the bullpen (he was a starter at Notre Dame but he was more famous there from catching passes from Brady Quinn for Touchdown Jesus). But don’t expect him to keep racking up wins on another bad Cubs team. He may produce some strikeouts but his ERA and WHIP will not contribute to any fantasy titles. Samardzija’s low WHIP can directly be attributed to only allowing 1 walk in two starts and that will not continue.
Samardzija is owned in 28.8% of ESPN fantasy leagues and may be worth a waiver wire pickup IF he continues to rack up wins. But as I stated before, do not get overly excited and start thinking Samardzija has found his place in the big leagues or your fantasy team might suffer.
