Fantasy Baseball: 6 Swinging-Strike Stars Who Could Rebound in 2018
Joe Musgrove, Houston Astros
ERA: 4.77 (96th/135)
Swinging-Strike Rate: 11.7% (26th/135)
Debuting with the Houston Astros in 2016, Joe Musgrove pitched well in his cup of coffee, recording a 4.06 ERA and 3.98 SIERA over 62.0 innings pitched. He made a bigger splash on Houston's way to a World Series title, piling up 109 1/3 innings pitched last season, but he stepped back a bit with a loftier ERA.
Still only 25, Musgrove's 21.2% and 21.5% strikeout rates in the past two seasons prove he is a decent option for fantasy whiffs, and he may have actually performed a bit better than one might think, logging a 3.98 and 4.04 SIERA over those two years.
Musgrove's real issues came from -- like a few on this list -- home runs. He gave up 1.48 dingers per nine innings last year, and 16.4% of fly balls he allowed turned into homers, slightly above the league average of 14.2%.
Limiting home runs may be the final piece of the puzzle for Musgrove. He has shown a propensity to rack up strikeouts, and he could be a sleeper option as a mid-level fantasy arm.
