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Yuki Matsui 2024 Fantasy Baseball Outlook: Will Be In The Saves Mix In San Diego
10 months agoSan Diego Padres reliever Yuki Matsui is a 28-year-old relief pitcher signed from Rakuten in the Japan Central League. The lefty has 236 career saves in the JPPL and is now in the rebuilt San Diego bullpen. Last season, Matsui had a career-high 39 saves with a tidy 1.57 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 72 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. Matsui features a good fastball, but his best pitch is a wicked splitter that generated a 56% whiff rate last year for Rakuten. The splitter is used mainly against right-handed hitters. He throws a slider to left-handed hitters that gets good results down and away. Manager Mike Shildt might use veteran Robert Suarez to start the season as the closer but do not be surprised if Matsui wrestles the job from him at some point. With an NFBC ADP of 313, Matsui is a good place to speculate on saves. The ATC projections give him 12 saves and a helpful 3.54 ERA. This is a good value late in drafts.
