Fantasy Baseball: 2016 Bounce Back Pitching Sleepers

Yordano Ventura

ADP: 51st pitcher – 173rd overall (18th round)

Yordano Ventura had a rough go of things to start out the 2015 season. After he made himself look like the ‘Ace’ Ventura that he was supposed to be in 2014, things fell apart quickly for Ventura in 2015.

He couldn’t keep his mind on the task at hand which was striking out as many hitters as he can. He also wasn’t winning games and wasn’t preventing runs from scoring.

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He posted a less than eye-popping ERA of 4.08 but his Ks/9 did spike to 8.6. He performed so poorly in 2015 that he was demoted to Triple-A, but an injury to Jason Vargas saved Ventura’s season.

After his demotion, something clicked for Ventura. He posted an ERA of 3.56 in the second half. He also upped his strikeout rate to 9.7 batters per nine innings.

It got better for Ventura the longer the season went on. In his final 13 starts, his ERA was 3.38 and his Ks/9 jumped to 9.9 and he was over 10 in his final seven starts.

In his 2014 season, Ventura posted an ERA of 3.20 and won 14 games. His WHIP is always going to be high until he learns to limit the free passes, but if his 2016 season can look more like his 2014 season with an increased strikeout rate he could be a top fantasy option.

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