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Fantasy Baseball 2015: Baltimore Orioles Starting Rotation Preview

By Zachary Thompson

Oct 11, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Bud Norris (25) in game two of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Bud Norris (25) in game two of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 3, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen (16) pitches against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning of game two of the 2014 ALDS playoff baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2014; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen (16) pitches against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning of game two of the 2014 ALDS playoff baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Wei-Yin Chen

2014 Stats: 31 games started, 15 quality starts. 16-6, 3.54 ERA, 1.23 WHIP.
185.3 IP, 246 K, 6.59 K/9, 3.89 SO/BB ratio.

2015 Fantasy Outlook: Behind Tillman, the O’s rotation is pretty even 2-5, although I would lean toward Wei-Yin Chen as their second starter to open the year.  Chen threw 185.2 innings last season and posted his first ERA under 4.00 in his career.  For the most part, he pitched to contact and avoided home runs while effectively limiting damage and remaining a solid streaming or daily league option.

Chen just doesn’t have the strikeouts to hold a regular spot on your standard league roster, but he can be a good pickup when you need a win or a quality start to close out a week.  Chen doesn’t typically go deep into games, but he does work out of jams and usually limits damage.

Last year, he also demonstrated a nice finishing kick to the season going 7-3 with a 2.76 ERA after the All Star break while posting a 4.15 ERA and a 9-3 record in the first half.  Chen’s other splits are fairly balanced except that he did struggle during day games, although part of that skew is just the fact that more day games happen earlier in the season.

Chen is not someone I would target in standard mixed-league drafts, but he is someone to monitor for daily league and streaming usage if he can pick up where he left off last season in the second half.

Next: Miguel Gonzalez

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