Fantasy Baseball: Oakland Athletics Pitchers

Jun 10, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Drew Pomeranz (13) pitches during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Drew Pomeranz – Reasons for concern: He has never exceeded 150 innings in his career across any level and he doesn’t feature a full pitch arsenal expected of a starting pitcher. Reasons for optimism: He struck out nearly a batter per inning last season and pitched to a 1.116 WHIP and 2.35 ERA in 69 major league innings. Like CHavez, he has experience both in the pen and rotation, so it is unclear how the Athletics will use Pomeranz. ESPN ranked him 118th among starting pitchers, so they see a deep league relevant starter.

Two Key Stats: 1. 4.2 BB/9 over his career. That number must come down, even from his 3.4 mark in 2014. 2. 20 percent of his starts were quality starts. Pomeranz failed to pitch more than 5.1 innings in a game in eight of his ten starts because he became more hittable as games went on. He must find a way to work deeper to be counted on in fantasy.

Pomeranz is going undrafted in ESPN standard leagues, and is owned in just 1.2 percent of leagues.

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