January 19, 2020

Dakota Hudson had a strong rookie year for the Cardinals winning 16 games with a 3.35 ERA and finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting. As good as his stats were, a look at his supporting metrics show a pitcher that will disappoint fantasy owners who draft Hudson expecting a repeat performance. Hudson's FIP was 4.93 and his SIERA was even higher at 5.08, seventh-worst among all qualified pitchers. Hudson's league-worst 11.4 percent walk rate also led to an astronomical 1.41 WHIP which is simply too high for a pitcher to regularly start in fantasy. Hudson is also a liability in strikeouts as he averaged just seven K/9 last season and his strikeout rate was under 20 percent every full season he pitched in the minors. Hudson found his success last season by leading the league with a 56.9 percent ground ball rate and will need to continue that tendency to be a usable fantasy option in 2020. Hudson is a talented young pitcher and Cardinals fans have every right to be excited to have him. Fantasy owners, however, should approach Hudson with caution this draft season. He is unlikely to match last season's win total and his ERA will likely rise as well. Hudson is a fine late-round pick in deeper leagues but with an ADP of 295, he's not someone that needs to be drafted in standard mixed leagues.--Mike Schwarzenbach - RotoBaller