A wise philosopher once said, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. … But it ain’t about how hard ya hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. … That’s how winning is done!”
OK, fine, those words were garbled out by Rocky Balboa, but the words fit perfectly when it comes to dealing with your fantasy rotation.
Entering Friday night, three of the top 10 pitchers (Madison Bumgarner, Noah Syndergaard, Corey Kluber) taken in drafts, according to FantasyPros, were on the disabled list. If you added Cole Hamels to that list, you have four of the top 20 pitchers suffering from some type of ailment. There were 16 in the top 50 on the DL and, of the next best 50 pitchers, another 13 have either been placed on the DL or demoted.
That is a lot of roster space to fill and, as we all know, it isn’t always easy to find competent/reliable replacements. But, it’s not over until the bell rings … and you haven’t heard a bell, have you?
(Start playing Rocky theme song and start shadow boxing.)
Enter Trevor Cahill.
You might recognize Cahill from the 2010 All-Star Game and Cy Young race (he finished ninth after going 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA). So, what has he been up to for the past seven years? He was a mediocre starter from 2011-13 with the A’s and Diamondbacks, going 33-36 with a 3.98, before being used mostly out of the bullpen from 2014-16 with Arizona and the Cubs, going 8-19 with a 4.71 ERA over 108 appearances (21 starts). He now is with the lowly Padres, but that could be a blessing in disguise.
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After going 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA over his first two starts, the 29-year-old has gone 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA, 29 strikeouts and a .186 opponent average over his past four. Can this recent string of success be sustained while playing for the bottom-feeding Padres? Yes, it can.
Cahill, despite no noticeable increase in velocity, is striking out 11.2 per nine innings, far surpassing his career 6.6 rate. Part of this is because of the increased usage of his curveball, which he is throwing a career-high 23.8 percent of the time while making batters swing and miss almost 25 percent of the time. He also is throwing the curve 43 percent of the time when he has two strikes against a batter (last year, he was doing that 12 percent of the time). He is a new and improved pitcher!
Cahill has a 72.1 percent strand rate (in line with his 72.2 percent career rate), a career-low 9.1 percent home run-to-flyball ratio, and he continues to produce plenty of groundballs (57.1 percent). It also doesn’t hurt that he pitches in the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park, where he is 4-2 with a 1.79 ERA over nine career appearances (eight starts).
All of this is good news, even with his 4.1 walks per nine innings. Sure, six starts is a small sample size, especially for a pitcher who has been an average pitcher, at best, over his nine-year career. But, with a FIP (2.80) and xFIP (3.09) right in line with his 3.06 ERA, as well as all the other factors, Cahill appears to have reinvented himself into the perfect low-cost rotation option who should be owned in more than just 43.9 percent of ESPN leagues and 52 percent of Yahoo leagues.
The fight’ s not over yet. Don’t give up. Get Cahill in your corner.
Here is a look at some other low-cost options who can help your injury-ravaged rotation:
- Including his complete-game shutout against the Padres on Tuesday, the Rangers’ A.J. Griffin is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 23:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .167 opponent average over his past four starts. He has a cozy matchup against the A’s, whom he held to just one hit with eight strikeouts in a win on April 17, on Sunday.
- The Dodger’s Alex Wood is 30-30 with a 3.32 ERA over 192 career appearances (82 starts). Over his past three starts, the 26-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA, .169 opponent average and a 24:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He is available in 48 percent or more of ESPN and Yahoo leagues.
- Keep an eye on Houston’s Charlie Morton, who is striking out a career-high 10.0 per nine innings. He is 4-1 with a 3.45 ERA over his past five starts, and he has won his past three decisions.
Big Hits
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Aaron Altherr OF, Phillies
He was 13-for-30 (.433) with five homers, 15 RBIs, seven walks, one stolen base, nine runs scored and a 1.607 OPS over his first eight games this month. Available in 45 percent of more of ESPN and Yahoo leagues.
Yonder Alonso 1B, Athletics
In 20 games since April 19, he hit .333 with 10 homers, 20 RBIs and 1.266 OPS. He hit .355 with seven homers, 13 RBIs and 1.524 OPS in his first nine games this month.
Billy Hamilton OF, Reds
Has raised his average from .213 to .259 by going 16-for-45 (.356) with one homer, 10 RBIs, 15 runs, nine stolen bases and 1.008 OPS in his first 10 May games.
Cody Bellinger OF, Dodgers
In his first 15 big league games, the 21-year-old was 19-for-59 (.322) with six homers, 17 RBIs, one stolen base, 15 runs scored and a 1.080 OPS.
Big Whiffs
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Bartolo Colon SP, Braves
Age might be catching up with the hefty soon-to-be 44-year-old — he is 0-3 with a 9.55 ERA over his past four starts. He allowed 23 runs on 36 hits, a .375 opponent average and a 1.099 OPS in that span.
Brandon Phillips 2B, Braves
The veteran is off to a slow start this month, hitting .115 with no homers, no RBIs, two runs scored and .231 OPS over his first seven games.
Adam Conley SP, Marlins
Was optioned to Triple-A after allowing 21 runs (18 earned) over his past 10??/? innings while striking out nine, walking nine and allowing a .327 opponent average.
Hunter Renfroe OF, Padres
Struggled over his first nine games of the month, going 5-for-29 (.172) with no homers, one RBI, 10 strikeouts, a .480 OPS and just one run scored.
Quick Hits
- And the early favorite for the Adam Dunn Award is … Joey Gallo. The 23-year-old slugger has blasted off 11 times while striking out a league-leading 54 times. He also has not coming close to hitting his weight (235 pounds) with a Dunn-like .200 average.
- It was a tough week for closers. Zach Britton is out 6-8 weeks after his forearm issues flared up again. Mark Melancon hit the DL with a forearm issue (but should be back next week). Francisco Rodriguez lost his job. Jeurys Familia was diagnosed with an arterial clot in his shoulder that may require surgery. And the Nationals still don’t have a reliable endgame specialist.
- Milwaukee’s Keon Broxton had an awful April (.191, one homer, three RBIs, 31 strikeouts), but has turned things around this month. Entering Friday, he was 13-for-30 (.433) with two homers, six RBIs, two stolen bases, a 1.318 OPS and 13 runs over his previous eight games.
- Derek Jeter’s number is being retired by the Yankees on Sunday. Did you know that when No. 2 debuted in 1995, a kosher McDonald’s opened in Israel? Do you know how they prevent their bagels from being stolen? They put lox on them. Mazel Tov, Jete’s!
Team Name of the Week
Fast Thames at Ridgemont High
— submitted by David Satriano