Kendall Graveman: Back From the Grave

May 23, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher

(31) at Tropicana Field. Oakland Athletics defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

One of the most paramount research steps we take before the start of the fantasy season is the process of identifying certain guys we deem “sleepers.” Nowadays, it is nearly impossible to have your own personal sleepers as fantasy information has become readily available to everyone. Digging deep through the waiver wire is your only shot at finding the next superstar.

There can be some guys that fall through the cracks ,and we may tend to like more than the next guy. These guys are not often main stream sleepers nor make everyone’s sleeper lists, but astute fantasy owners can uncover these gems with patience and headiness.

One of the players that I was targeting as more of a deep sleeper so to speak, was Kendall Graveman. It seemed like at the onset of spring training that he was going to at least compete for a spot on the A’s rotation.  

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As we have all seen, the A’s can sometimes offer some of the more of the off the radar SP values, such as Scott Kazmir’s 2014 revival. After watching some of Graveman’s starts, it was pretty obvious that he was one of their best in-house candidates for a starting job.

By the time drafts rolled around, Graveman was being drafted as nothing more than a flier SP5, which for me was perfectly fine because I thought he offered sneaky good value at that spot.

Unfortunately though, spring success rarely dictates regular season success and through his first 4 starts it was pretty apparent that he just was not ready. After those starts he had a 1-2 record, an 8.27 ERA and a demotion to the minors.

I expected him to eventually find his way back to the majors, but I was definitely disappointed and basically wrote him off as a guy that I was just too high on based off the spring. I did not follow his starts in AAA, but looking back on them now it was clear that he made the necessary adjustments to be placed back on the fantasy radar.

It only took Graveman four minor league starts to be called back up as he posted a 1.85 ERA in the notorious hitter’s paradise, the PCL. If we examine some of his minor league stats, then we see that Graveman began to attack the strike zone more, thus limiting his H/9 and keeping his pitch count low.

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During his first major league starts he was plagued by his more nibbling pitching approach which saw him fall behind in counts and thus driving his WHIP up and knocking him out of games early. Once he was called back up, it was obvious that his new and more aggressive approach was clearly what was needed. Over his last five starts, Graveman is 3-2, with a 1.60 ERA, averaging 6.0 IP per start, and a 5.0 K/9.

He has quietly been one of the hotter starting pitchers in the AL, what has also impressed me is that he has done this against some marquee offenses (TB, NYY, DET, BOS, and LAA). In my opinion, Graveman has the ability to unseat Jesse Hahn as the third-best pitcher on the A’s staff as the season progresses.

He is hardly owned in all fantasy platforms, and I am imploring owners to target him now before more start to pay attention to a guy that has nearly had five quality starts since his promotion. He will not wow with the K’s, but if he can hover around that 5 K/9 mark he will certainly be a solid addition to your staff as he offers other solid SP stats.