Does anyone know if Dylan is related to King Kong? Any 80s WWF fans in the house? Notice I said WWF and not WWE. We’re going back before they were told to get the “F” out. King Kong Bundy and his big splashes was a classic in old school wrestling. I remember watching him fight Hogan in a steel cage match. But fast forward about thirty-five years and it’s Dylan Bundy who’s making a splash. In 28.2 innings pitched (4 starts) he has 35 strikeouts and just 3 base on balls. In points leagues lingo that translates into just over 27 points per start. I laugh at your small sample size suggestion.
The top starting pitcher in points leagues with about 33 points per starts is Trevor Bauer. Right behind him is Shane Bieber with 28.75 points per start. Bieber, Bauer and Bundy. That sounds like a law firm or a boy band. If you happen to own all three of those guys you have got to be flying high right about now. And considering their ADPs (Bieber 24, Bauer 58, Bundy 178), it was quite possible for you have drafted them. As a point of reference here are the points per start numbers for some known aces.
Gerrit Cole: 20.75
Jacob deGrom: 18.5
Max Scherzer: 15.25
Here’s something to keep in mind. In most leagues we are in week 4 of a season that is probably only scheduled to be 8 weeks. That means we are just about halfway done. If there are only 4 regular season weeks left that leaves about 5 or so more starts per pitcher. My suggestion is to put the guys that are getting it done in your starting lineup. Here are a few pitchers that should already be on your radar. I’m sure they are all owned, but if you can trick a league mate into trading one of them away for a more well known star/big name, do it. Don’t think twice in a redraft league.
Lance Lynn: 24
Zach Plesac: 23.3
Kyle Hendricks: 22
Kenta Maeda: 20.75
Max Fried: 20.25
Spencer Turnbull: 19.66
Dinelson Lamet: 19.5
German Marquez: 18.5
Jon Lester: 18.3
Merrill Kelly: 18.3
Frankie Montas: 17
Chris Bassitt: 16.75
In case you were wondering how my season is going I’ll share some of my player updates.
- Padres’ Kirby Yates: Slated to undergo MRI
- Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg: Departs with apparent injury
- Rays’ Charlie Morton: Throws from 120 feet
- Diamondbacks’ Madison Bumgarner: Playing catch Wednesday
- Angels’ Jo Adell: Struggles with bat, glove
- Astros’ Josh James: Bound for bullpen
- Rangers’ Corey Kluber: Placed on 45-day injured list
At least I just got Yordan Alvarez back! Either way, it’s been a struggle. Fortunately it’s been the same struggle for many in the league and I am still in the mix. Remember what I said last week, get the hot players in your lineups. At this point ADP is no longer important. You’re going to have to be daring in redraft leagues and possibly drop some players you might not feel comfortable doing so.
Here are a few bats with less popular names that stick out:
Brandon Lowe (0.94 PPPA)
Kyle Seager (of course) (0.89)
Anthony Santander (0.83)
Hanser Alberto (0.75)
Brandon Nimmo (0.68)
David Fletcher (0.67)
Follow malamoney on Twitter at @malamoney
