Despite Cliff Lee’s 3.98 earned run average he is still the same dominant lefty that he has been in the past.
Analysis: Cliff Lee still has all the elite stats to indicate that he is still an ace with the exception of ERA and wins. Lee is sporting a 3.00 FIP, a 3.06 xFIP and a 1.19 WHIP(27th best in MLB). Lee’s 9.06K/9IP is eleventh best in the bigs this year. Even Cliff Lee’s velocity is virtually identical to his numbers last year. Cliff Lee still has lethal, dominating stuff… period.
What has not been going right for Lee is very simple. Lee’s run support has been awful but with Chase Utley and Ryan Howard back in the mix the Phils will produce offensively once again. We must also consider Lee’s BABIP against is 34 points above his career average this year. It may not seem like much but those extra base runners add up. Now is the perfect time to buy Cliff Lee- when his value may not be that of an ace in many fantasy leagues. He is still the same old Cliff Lee and he has the stuff and all the stats to back it up.