Fantasy Baseball: 6 Swinging-Strike Stars Who Could Rebound in 2018
Jharel Cotton, Oakland Athletics
ERA: 5.58 (123rd/135)
Swinging-Strike Rate: 9.7% (69th/135)
Just like Lamet, Jharel Cotton's owners had a bumpy ride in 2017. In fact, Cotton was even demoted during his rookie year due to inconsistent performance.
That ERA was ugly, but Cotton also showcased a very nice swinging-strike rate over 129.0 major league innings. Where Cotton really got into trouble was a professional-worst 9.4% walk rate. That was easily Cotton's highest mark of his career at any stop, and as he dished out free passes, he was hammered, allowing 28 home runs (1.95 home runs per nine innings pitched).
Not a good combination.
Cotton may have finally turned a corner with his command over the last two months of the year. In his final nine starts, Cotton walked two batters or less six times, recording a 4-1 record with 27 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.
He owns good strikeout numbers in the minors, and the whiffs carried over to the bigs. If Cotton can refine his command, he could be the big-time arm many were predicting for a breakout season last year.
