BALLER MOVE: Target in drafts ~pick 257
CURRENT ADP: ~290 overall
ANALYSIS: The Rays seem to find a way to churn out valuable starting pitchers. With their payroll issues, they usually tend to shy away from spending significant money on their rotation. Instead of signing Tyler Glasnow to a long-term extension, they decided to trade him to the Dodgers this winter.
Zach Eflin will now lead the Rays rotation, while a group of youngsters will be behind him. One of the more intriguing options for fantasy purposes is Taj Bradley. He received his first taste of the majors last season, posting a 5.59 ERA over 104.2 innings.
While Bradley’s ERA was bad, he had a better 4.79 FIP to go along with his 28.0 percent strikeout rate. Although his four-seam fastball was hit hard, he generated a 29.5 percent whiff rate on his cutter and a 41.0 percent whiff rate on his changeup.
Bradley should open the year in the Rays’ starting rotation. He logged 142.1 innings at Triple-A and the majors combined last season, so he shouldn’t be on much of an innings limit. With his ability to generate strikeouts, it would not be a surprise to see him show significant improvement in his ERA.
Two young pitchers that are great values in 2024 drafts are Hunter Brown and Taj Bradley.
Both had an ERA above 5.00, but...
Brown: 3.49 xFIP, 3.70 SIERA, 19% K-BB
Bradley: 3.80 xFIP, 3.81 SIERA, 19.8% K-BBRanked 2nd & 3rd in rookie K-BB% (min 40 IP).#FantasyBaseball pic.twitter.com/TLnrcWfTbN
— Eric Cross (@EricCross04) March 5, 2024
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