Monday, April 23, 2007

N.L. FAAB Follow up

Timothy asked about Kyle Lohse in the comments section for yesterday's FAAB write-up.

Lohse is probably gone in most leagues, but he's still available in Timothy's league. Timothy's question is what to bid.

As Timothy points out, Lohse's numbers are nice but the sample size is very small, and half of those Ks came against the Cubs in one game. Still, I recommended Lohse last week as someone who could turn the corner this year, and I stand by that recommendation. Lohse apparently has an improved backdoor slider and a better change-up this year, and that will make a big difference. That isn't to say that Lohse is going to become an elite pitcher, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an ERA in the 3.5-4 range.

As far as a bid, you probably will have to go $8-10 on him if you want him.

Unless your opponents are reading this, and then you'll have to go even higher.

3 comments:

Toz said...

Mike and I disagree on Lohse this year. Of course, we need to put this disagreement into context. Lohse is one of the better FA finds, if he wasn't drafted. Nonetheless, he pitches in a bandbox, is in a division full of bandboxes, and his interiors have never been all that great. I guess I'll believe it when I see it. If you have him, sell high.

T.J. said...

I got him for $8. Losing bids were $6, $5, and $5. I'm not sure I'm glad I won. I waived Cla Meredith for him, who was doing really well. If someone wants him, I'll gladly trade him and get Meredith back.

Mike Gianella said...

I would also agree, Toz, that our disagreement must be placed into context. As I said in my post, I'm not saying that Lohse is a Cy Young candidate. However, his stuff both against the Cubs and against the Phillies looked far superior to when he was with the Twins. It's true that two starts worth of data aren't a lot, but part of Roto isn't just crunching the numbers and relying on the past but trusting your eyes in the present. Lohse looks like a different pitcher to me and I think that has to be taken into account.