Tag: Ian Kennedy

Last Call On Kennedy

Ian Kennedy has a 2.00 ERA and 22 strikeouts over his last three starts.

Analysis: Kennedy’s season is starting to round into form. He currently has a 3.39 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 88 strikeouts in 79.2 innings of work. He’s 12th in the bigs in K’s, 17th in WHIP and 42nd in ERA. Overall this year he is the 23rd best starter in roto formats yet he remains available in a few fantasy leagues out there.

The sabermetrics back Kennedy up as well. Kennedy has a 2.97 xFIP with a sustainable strand rate, HR/FB rate and BABIP against. His velocity is up significantly on his fastball and his walk rate is just 2.2/9 IP. We are talking about a middle tier fantasy starter that is putting up numbers yet is getting absolutely no love. Yes, Kennedy has had a few bad starts but he has posted a sub 3.70 ERA in both April and May this season. It appears that all Kennedy needs now is for the Padres not to be dead last in the majors in runs scored.

Ian Kennedy is available in 10-25% of fantasy leagues. His next start is in Philly this coming Tuesday.

Deep League Help- Hellickson

Jeremy Hellickson is worth owning in deeper leagues despite his 5.67 ERA.

Analysis: Over the past few years Jeremy Hellickson has been one lucky pitcher if you go by “ERA minus FIP.” This year is completely the opposite. Hellickson’s ERA minus FIP is 1.48 which is third in baseball. A lot of his unlucky and inflated numbers can be attributed to his strand rate of 60%- 18% below his career average and third worst among qualified starters. When his numbers were low over the past years he made a great sell high option now he’s a perfect buy low candidate.

Hellickson’s 1.26 WHIP is 53rd in baseball this year and ahead of guys like Cole Hamels and Justin Verlander. His walk rate is also 25th best in baseball. His xFIP is a respectable 4.03 and ahead of guys like Dan Haren, Wandy Rodriguez, Matt Moore and Ian Kennedy. He’s not a fantasy baseball savior but he can help your ratios and he isn’t bad in the strikeout department either. He has 66 K’s this year which is 53rd among all pitchers and 26th in the American League.

Hellickson is not as bad as his 5.67 ERA, expect a 4.00 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP going forward.