Fantasy Baseball: 10 Starting Pitchers Expected to See an Increase in Production
Sonny Gray, Oakland Athletics
2016 nF Score: -4.28
2017 Projected nF Score: -1.27
Projected Boost: 3.01
| Year | IP | W | K | BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 117 | 5 | 94 | 42 | 5.69 | 1.50 |
| 2017 (Projected) | 182 | 9 | 143 | 61 | 4.07 | 1.31 |
Sonny Gray's first three MLB seasons -- which included 491 innings of work -- all pointed toward him being a budding star. And for the Oakland Athletics, it looked as though they'd be able to cash in on another young player they eventually wouldn't be able to afford.
After compiling 33 wins with a 2.88 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 3.38 FIP, everything that could've gone wrong did go wrong in 2016. He did battle some injuries, and there are reasons to believe that a healthy Gray could in fact rebound this season.
However, the big "if" here is that he'll actually stay healthy.
A lat injury will delay Gray's 2017 season from starting, but it also makes a bounce-back campaign even harder to imagine. His nF score is projected to take a big jump, but our projections aren't expecting a return to form.
Current Fantasy Draft Information:
Gray's ADP has been trending outside the top 200 for most of the winter, which looked to be a huge opportunity given him past track record, but also dependent on his health.
While the injury doesn't seem to be serious at this point, you may be better off avoiding him completely and looking for players with more upside, like Robbie Ray, who posted the second-best K/9 among qualified big league starters (11.25) last year.
