Imaginary Diamond

Fantasy leagues are typically never won solely on the shoulders of your aces. Strong pitching staffs that can dominate a league are made up of a well rounded, consistently producing set of arms.

Here is a list of ten guys that you should seriously consider adding to your pitching arsenal. Some use to be big names, some aren’t big names and some probably never will be, but numbers clinch fantasy leagues and so far these guys are dealing. These players are available in over 50% of fantasy leagues.

1. Tim Redding, Washington Nationals
What to like: Redding won his fifth game on Wednesday, allowing only one run in 6 innings against the Mets. Going into his start, opponents were hitting just .212 against him. Redding’s strikeout to walk ratio has drastically improved this season, and he has demonstrated a much improved WHIP from previous seasons.

What to cringe at: The last time he pitched a full season was back in 2003.

2. Mike Mussina, New York Yankees
What to like: Moose has won his last 5 starts behind great command, only six walks in almost 50 innings. Mussina went 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA in 2006, so he is definitely capable of having a bounce back season.

What to cringe at: The New York hurler is 40 years old and was horrendous last season.

3. Greg Smith, Oakland Athletics
What to like: The young thrower has a very solid ERA (3.00), WHIP (1.07) and opponent batting average (.208). In his first season in the bigs, Smith has good command and a sound ability to make hitters swing and miss. He will give your fantasy team low ratios and plenty of strikeouts.

What to cringe at: Oakland isn’t scoring a lot of runs in his support, so don’t expect many wins for him along the way.

4. Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants
What to like: His strikeouts per nine innings rate (46 in 42.1 innings) is a very valuable asset to fantasy teams. His ability to blow hitters away is a sign for improvement down the road this season.

What to cringe at: The Giants aren’t very good, and Sanchez does walk a lot of hitters. Expect some turbulent games mixed in with the gems.

5. Jesse Litsch, Toronto Blue Jays
What to like: Litsch brings to the table a very solid strikeout to walk ratio of 27:7. Starting off the season with a 5-1 record, the Blue Jays’ hurler keeps turning in quality start after quality start. Don’t expect any complete game shutouts or double-digit strikeout performances, but Litsch will give your fantasy team a boost.

What to cringe at: Toronto is in a tough division with some good offensive teams, and Litsch rarely overpowers batters.

6. Daniel Cabrera, Baltimore Orioles
What to like: Cabrera’s bases on balls have decreased greatly this season, demonstrating that he might be turning the corner as a pitcher. He has gone at least six innings in eight of his nine starts.

What to cringe at: His strikeouts per nine innings are down from previous seasons.

7. Greg Maddux, San Diego Padres
What to like: The new 350-game winner has been solid all year, with the exception of one start when he allowed nine runs. Supporting a very respectable ERA of 3.60, Maddux rarely walks anyone, so he won’t be a liability in the WHIP category.

What to cringe at: Maddux is ancient and the run support he will receive this season is minimal as San Diego is one of the worst hitting teams in the NL.

8. Rich Hill, Chicago Cubs
What to like: Opponents were only hitting .191 against Hill before his demotion to the minors, and he brings a very strong strikeout per nine innings rate to the table (198 Ks in 195 innings last season). He will get a return call up to the Cubs soon.

What to cringe at: Hill’s command in locating pitches has been pretty terrible so far this season, prompting a trip to the minors. Expect some rough starts mixed in with the dominant ones.

9. Paul Byrd, Cleveland Indians
What to like: Cleveland has a ton of arms that are throwing extremely well at the moment, so it seems Byrd is locked into the zone along Lake Erie. Byrd has also only walked five batters all season.

What to cringe at: Opponents are hitting .262 against Byrd this season, with the last two seasons having that average be over .300. Don’t expect any pitching masterpieces that will overcome huge fantasy deficits.

10. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angels Dodgers
What to like: His call-up is just on the horizon and he has been dominating the minors this season with a 2.21 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.

What to cringe at: He will be on an innings limit once he gets the call up, so don’t expect many wins, just good strikeouts and solid ratios.

More thoughts …
The Sportsomniac says that Maddux will leave a legacy of a genius, while Roger Clemens will be remembered as a cheater.

Roto Professor updates Hill’s progress at Triple-A Iowa.

Newsday wonders if Mussina is a Hall of Famer.

Brian Pempus is a junior journalism student at Penn State University. He can be contacted at bjp5026[at]psu.edu.