MLB

Fantasy Baseball: Should You Believe in These 5 Starting Pitchers?

John Stolnis  —  @johnstolnis Apr 13th, 2018
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Nick Pivetta, Philadelphia Phillies

Nick Pivetta's stuff had him on fantasy experts' draft-and-stash radar to start the year and, so far, he's made that speculation look very wise.

The 25-year-old righty was dominant during the Philadelphia Phillies' recent homestand against the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds, and has piled up 0.8 fWAR in three starts thus far. In those starts, he has a 2.70 ERA, 1.29 FIP and 2.33 xFIP, and has been striking out a lot of hitters (10.26 K/9) while walking very few (1.08 BB/9) and pitching into the fifth and seventh innings in his most recent starts.

In his last two, Pivetta didn't walk a batter, which marks the first two times he's managed that feat. He also struck out 16 in those two outings, averaging 94.5 miles-per-hour (mph) on his four-seam fastball, along with a wipe-out curveball and evolving slider. Overall, his stuff is generating a lot of swings and misses (14% swing-and-miss rate), and he's throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes (66.2%). And no one in baseball has a lower FIP than Pivetta.


But can you believe in this?

After all, Pivetta is coming off a season in which he gave up a 6.02 ERA in 26 starts, the sixth-highest in baseball among pitchers with at least 130 innings. His 4.87 FIP and 4.26 xFIP last season is an indication that his ERA was perhaps artificially high, and fantasy owners should add Pivetta (if they haven't already) and get him in their lineups. But they should keep a close eye on the young gun, just in case this isn't quite for real.

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