Fantasy Baseball: Pittsburgh Pirates 2020 fantasy preview

2020 Pittsburgh Pirates projected starting rotation

Chris Archer, RHP (3-9, 5.19 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 143K in 23 starts)
Joe Musgrove, RHP (11-12, 4.44 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 157K in 31 starts)
Trevor Williams, RHP (7-9, 5.38 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 113K in 26 starts)
Mitch Keller, RHP (1-5, 7.13 ERA, 1.83 ERA, 65K in 11 starts)
Steven Brault, LHP (4-6, 5.16 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 100K in 19 starts)
Keone Kela, RHP (2-0, 2.12 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 33K 1/6 saves)

Yuck. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. If you put Archer and Williams in a blind stat line, you couldn’t tell the two apart. Archer’s fall was swift. The peculiar thing is that the strikeouts were still there and he still had a few brilliant starts. We know what Archer was capable of, so he’s an interesting late round pick to see if you can recapture some magic. After all, he put up huge numbers in the beast that is the A.L. East.

Musgrove’s WHIP hints that some of his ERA was bad luck. He racked up some strikeouts last year and seems to be on the way up. He had a miserable April last year but then took off. Considering he likely wont play in April this year, maybe he’ll start hot! I like Musgrove as your fourth fantasy starter.

Keller and Brault are nice prospects, but that WHIP on Keller is nasty. I want to see more from them first. If you reach in the last coupe of rounds, I don’t mind that. Don’t reach for them any sooner though. They both had enough time in the majors last year and didn’t show much improvement. Keep them on your bench until they prove they can handle it.

Kela was a strong part of this bullpen last year. Don’t get too caught up in the blown saves. They weren’t in ninth innings for the most part. Vazquez is gone, but with Kela there we shouldn’t really notice. He wont rack up the strikeouts, but Kela is a guy who gets outs without letting many on base. He’s a solid tier closer. The lack of strikeouts is the only thing keeping him out of the middle.

Prospects to watch:

It says something when Mitch Keller is still the highest-rated prospect in the Pittsburgh organization. It says that scouts still believe in him despite his struggles in the majors last year. It also says that this system isn’t nearly as talented as it once was. I’ve made my thoughts on Keller clear. His average spring still makes him a risky proposition.

Aside from Keller, who is all but a lock to stick in the majors no matter what he does, Pittsburgh doesn’t have much for reinforcements in the minors as far as arms go.

There are 23 more of these where this came from! Sports may be on hold, but we will have baseball sometime this season. We here at FanSided Fantasy are going to make sure you’re prepared!