Padres: Carter Capps Close to Returning, Pick Him Up Now

By Bill Pivetz | Apr 13, 2017

May 26, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Miami Marlins relief pitcher Carter Capps (22) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

The Padres and fantasy owners have been waiting for the 2017 debut of Carter Capps. With the way he’s been pitching in the minors, we will see him soon.

The San Diego Padres decided to bolster its bullpen by trading for flamethrower Carter Capps at the trade deadline. He was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, but the Padres were preparing for the future. Now, 13 months removed from surgery, Capps is close to making his 2017 debut and should be added in all fantasy leagues.

Capps made his first game appearance since 2015. He pitched a scoreless inning. He has one strikeout and one walk. Capps will be making a few more appearances this month. The hopeful scenario is that he joins the Padres by the end of April.

In his last season of big-league action, Capps pitched in 31 innings with the Miami Marlins. In 30 games, he posted a 1.16 ERA, 0.806 WHIP, 16.8 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. I think pitching in the National League West will yield close to the same results for Capps.

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I’ve mentioned this before but, before the injury, he was in line to be the Marlins closer over A.J. Ramos. When he returns to the Padres bullpen, he will compete for the closer job there too. He will have to outpitch Brandon Maurer.

Maurer hasn’t started the season off right. In four innings, he has a 4.50 ERA, 0.500 WHIP, five strikeouts, zero walks and a save. Maurer hasn’t allowed many baserunners, just two, but one of those hits was a home run.

Despite recording 13 saves, Maurer had a 4.52 ERA and 1.263 WHIP in 69.2 innings last season. The Padres traded away Fernando Rodney, which led to Maurer taking over the ninth inning. I think the team was looking for someone to challenge Maurer for the job and Capps could be that guy.

The Padres as a whole are not a good team and I talk about it here. Fantasy owners tend to stream pitchers against the offense, but that shouldn’t happen this season. The pitching staff could be had, including the bullpen.

Adding Capps to the bullpen will limit owners exploiting that strategy. He is a strikeout machine and could finish with 10 saves. Finding that value on the waiver wire is rare.

Next: Is J.T. Realmuto a sell-high candidate?

It’s tough to add a pitcher coming off of TJ surgery. You don’t know how their arm will hold up and, with the way Capps pitches, he is a bigger risk. However, as a waiver add with little risk for the long-term, I would add Capps as soon as you can.

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