Fantasy Baseball: NL ERA Leaders Since the All Star Break

by Ray Guilfoyle on Sep 16, 2009 9:15 AM EDT in Baseball Comment 3 comments

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright throws in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

5 months ago: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright throws in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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In roto and fantasy leagues, I find it helpful to look at how pitchers have performed in the second half of the year to see if strong seconf halves can carry over into the next season. Today I am looking at the NL ERA leaders since the All Star break, which really isn't the true second half, as teams play more games before the ASB than they do afterward.

Let's take a look:

Player	INN	GS	QS	CG	W	L	K	BBI	HA	ERA	WHIP	K/BB
Wainwright, Adam SP STL	82.7	12	11	1	9	2	65	15	75	1.85	1.09	4.33
Lincecum, Tim SP SF	79.7	11	9	1	4	3	95	25	56	2.26	1.02	3.80
Arroyo, Bronson SP CIN	85	12	11	1	4	4	52	21	74	2.33	1.12	2.48
Kershaw, Clayton SP LA	65.3	11	8	0	2	3	72	32	46	2.34	1.19	2.25
Harden, Rich SP CHC	64	11	7	0	4	2	85	28	39	2.39	1.05	3.04
Carpenter, Chris SP STL	89	12	10	2	9	1	68	19	80	2.43	1.11	3.58
Happ, J.A. SP PHI	69.7	10	8	2	5	4	47	22	59	2.45	1.16	2.14
Rodriguez, Wandy SP HOU	76	12	9	0	5	4	70	21	62	2.49	1.09	3.33
Lee, Cliff SP PHI	80	11	8	4	9	2	65	6	75	2.59	1.01	10.83
Jimenez, Ubaldo SP COL	79.7	11	11	0	7	1	66	27	57	2.6	1.05	2.44
Jurrjens, Jair SP ATL	71.7	11	9	0	4	3	55	22	64	2.64	1.20	2.50
Hanson, Tommy SP ATL	60.7	10	7	0	5	3	60	16	53	2.82	1.14	3.75
Wolf, Randy SP LA	75.3	11	10	0	6	3	60	16	58	2.87	0.98	3.75
Cain, Matt SP SF	79.3	11	7	1	3	3	56	22	63	2.95	1.07	2.55
Ohlendorf, Ross SP PIT	63	10	7	0	4	3	44	22	52	3	1.17	2.00
Vazquez, Javier SP ATL	78.3	11	7	1	7	2	80	17	65	3.1	1.05	4.71
Santana, Johan SP NYM	50.3	7	4	0	3	2	34	9	53	3.22	1.23	3.78
Pineiro, Joel SP STL	75.3	11	8	0	7	1	46	10	73	3.23	1.10	4.60
Hamels, Cole SP PHI	71	11	6	1	4	4	62	19	64	3.3	1.17	3.26
Zito, Barry SP SF	69.7	12	7	0	4	4	53	26	64	3.36	1.29	2.04

Note to self: trade for Bronson Arroyo come the ASB 2010. Wow. Who would have thought that Bronson Arroyo would have such a great second half in 2009. Arroyo is a notorious second half pitcher. He had a 5.97/3.47 first half/second half ERA split in 2008, and a 4.84/3.55 split in 2007.

The Braves Tommy Hanson shut out the Mets last night for 7 innings, which is not included in the stats above. Can Hanson be a top 10-15 starting pitcher in the NL in 2010? I think he can.

The Dodgers Randy Wolf has also pitched great in the second half this season. He is pitching better than his second half in Houston last season where he had a 4.66/3.77 first half/second half ERA split.

The Pirates Ross Ohlendorf is DEFINITELY not a name I expected to see on this list, so he is someone to keep your eye on going into 2010. He could be a late round sleeper.

Another name I did not expect to see is the Giants Barry Zito, who finally may earn the contract the Giants gave him a few years ago.

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Ohlendorf

This past Monday in my NL-only keeper league, I plucked Mr. Ohlendorf off waivers based on his second half numbers, thinking he could be a keeper for next year (he’s fringe on my list but I saw him as a better option than Hanrahan, who I had to drop to make the claim). I’ve read that he’ll make only one more start (this Saturday vs. the Padres) so the impact for this year will be minimal, but I liked him when he was in the NYY system and he’s been pretty solid since coming over in the X Nady trade last year. Of course, pitching for the Pirates will make even a very, very good SP look a little ‘meh’ at times.

Wandy Rodriguez is among my biggest regrets from my NL only auction league this year. I had targeted him and had him worth up to $15 (our cap is $280 for 25 spots) but his bidding topped out at $12… I kept my mouth shut because I had just picked up Brett Myers for $22 (which I thought was a decent deal at the time). You know how that one turned out. Oh, Wandy, I wish I’d drafted thee…a difference make you’d have been for me.
On Zito, I can tell you that while I salute & enjoy his recent success, he’ll have to be NLCS and/or WS MVP before most of us Giants fans will consider his contract “earned”… :)

Giants: World Series Champions...in 2011.

by Giants_Junkie on Sep 16, 2009 3:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

All solid guys.

I would buy on almost all of these pitchers for next year. Anyone who focuses on peripherals can’t be too surprised to see any of the names on this list. If John Smoltz had another five starts on here, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on this list. If he and Brad Penny weren’t the most damning evidence that the NL is the junior circuit, I don’t know what else is.

The Royalty of Roto Blog

by Bryan Everson (The Royalty of Roto) on Sep 17, 2009 2:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs