by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)
As the sample sizes start to grow the impulse to cut bait on a slow starter increases. How long do we stand pat, or do we move on and grab the latest hot young prospect (or whoever you can find sitting on the waiver wire)? Let’s take a look at three veteran pitchers to try and determine if it’s time to “Ditch ‘Em” or if we should “Stick With ‘Em” for a little bit longer:
Jose Quintana – Chicago Cubs
2018 Statistics – 19.2 IP, 7.78 ERA, 1.78 WHIP, 7.32 K/9, 5.03 BB/9
I have always been lower then most when it comes to Quintana, as seen by ranking him outside the Top 30 starting pitchers in our preseason draft guide. Here’s a quick excerpt of what was said at the time:
“While he showed more strikeout stuff overall, with a 9.87 K/9, and he could maintain a slightly higher mark in the NL, the underlying metrics don’t support it (8.4% SwStr%, 28.4% O-Swing%). Couple those limitations with an unspectacular groundball rate (44.8%) and the questions are going to be there.” Read more