A 5.22 ERA in April scared fantasy owners, but Buehler quickly recovered from the Dodgers' ill-planned "ease into the year" plan. Castro never developed into the fantasy stud he looked like he might become earlier in his career, but he quietly set a career high in home runs and RBI last year with the Marlins. Neris tested positive for COVID-19 but is back in camp and looks good to go for the regular season. In Triple-A last year, Hilliard hit 35 home runs and stole 22 bases in just 126 games, and he popped seven home runs in 27 MLB games. If healthy, he should return to dominance. Tanaka had a bizarre year. LeMahieu tested positive for COVID-19 and is asymptomatic, according to the Yankees. Although he held down the role and put up save totals, it wasn't pretty, as he walked about 4.5 batters per nine innings. Is that worth the complete lack of production he offers in three other categories? A low-upside, low-floor play, Quintana is just NL-only material. But with Kapler out of town, there's every reason to expect the 30-year-old Segura to return to being a 20-steal player with a plus batting average who will chip in everywhere. With less than two weeks left until the regular season, it seems unlikely that he'll begin the year on the active roster. Yarbrough relied on an opener plenty of times last year, and it helped his win potential, as he tallied 11 despite making just 14 starts. Cruz will be 40 this year, never plays the field and is starting to miss more time to injuries. Dozier, who’ll soon turn 29, entered 2020 hoping to build on a breakout effort last year. Expect excellent overall numbers and draft him accordingly. When healthy, Freeman is a dynamic option, so long as he has recovered from the elbow soreness that plagued him in spring. He's going to amass a ton of strikeouts and he's going to hand out free passes like a doctor handing out lollipops. Bell had a true breakout season in 2019, improving drastically in pretty much every measurable category. Still, Fried's FIP and xFIP were lower than his ERA, and his expected stats showed he had some bad luck. Edwin Diaz should have the ninth-inning role for the Mets to start, but if he struggles again, Lugo could sneak back into the job. He built on the massive gains he made from his first year with the Astros and lowered his ERA, WHIP, and walk rate to miniscule levels while totaling an outrageous 326 strikeouts. On a good Minnesota team, wins may be his best attribute, but he's hardly a pitcher to target in fantasy. Ryu had the lowest BABIP-allowed on groundballs (just .162) of any pitcher in baseball in 2019, which led to just a 1.01 WHIP. But with his advancing age, don't bank on him necessarily being a top-20 pitcher. Far from a star, but draftable. He greatly improved his control last year, leading to just a 1.00 WHIP, but his lack of strikeout upside and mediocre ERA should keep him as an option only in deeper mixed or AL-only leagues.
Chirinos' strikeout numbers won't help you, but his solid control allows him to limit the damage and keep his ERA and WHIP under control. But the thing is, his underlying metrics don't look all that different from his solid but unspectacular 2018 season. It's not exciting, but filling your roster with players like Anderson provide stability, which is worth considering on draft day. After spending all offseason strengthening his core and now in a contract year, Stroman should be in a position to provide plenty of value pitching with a full year in the National League. They'll be no discount for Lamet this year, but if you're looking for upside, he's worth the gamble. He opted to rehab it, which immediately places a cloud over his 2020 outlook given the uncertainty that comes along with such an injury. He continued to lean heavily on his outstanding slider, against which batters hit just .158.
But he looked closer to his old self in the second half, batting .327 with an 1.105 OPS. Now with the Rangers, Kluber will get a fresh start and look to rebuild some of his real and fantasy value. Pineda will miss the first 39 games of the 2020 season as he finishes serving his PED suspension. Whether he can continue to succeed with just one very good pitch is an open question, but considering his FIP and xFIP fully supported his 3.72 ERA, it's entirely possible. A velocity bump made his fastball nearly unhittable and he rarely gave up home runs. An oblique strain derailed what was looking like Mazara's best fantasy season of his career.