Zack Greinke
Fangraphs End of 2015 Fantasy Ranking: #5
Most fans were shocked when the news broke that Zack Greinke was heading to Arizona. Even though he’s moving to a very hitter friendly park, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm that fantasy players had for Greinke. He was coming off of the best season of his career in 2015. His 1.66 ERA led all of baseball, he won 19 games, and struck out 200 batters. Few fantasy owners would have had concerns about drafting Greink as one of the first starting pitchers off the board.
However, Greinke’s start to 2016 has not been what fantasy players expected. Currently he’s running a 5.25 ERA, and he’s leading the league in hits allowed (28). His 1.417 WHIP is his highest rate since 2006. His SO9 and BB9 rates have held somewhat steady which is encouraging, but everything else has been a disappointment thus far.
More so than with others on this list, there are reasons to be optimistic about Greinke. A 3.57 FIP shows that he has been better than his statistics suggest. Also, he’s coming off of his best start of the season. On April 20 against the Giants he pitched 6.2 innings and gave up 1 ER on 6 hits. All signs point to Greinke bouncing back and being close to the pitcher that fantasy players thought they were drafting.
Next: An Aging Slugger?