Printer-friendly

Contact Author

January 31, 2013

The Keeper Reaper

Starting Pitching for 1/31/13

by Paul Sporer

Last week’s in-depth look at a couple of players went well, so let’s try it again this week using two pitchers who were both on my list to be covered and recently requested by commenters. 

Gio Gonzalez | Washington Nationals
Shallow (30 keepers): Fringe
Medium (60 keepers): Yes
Deep (90 keepers): Yes
NL-only (60 keepers): Yes
Super Deep (200 keepers): Yes

Gonzalez’s situation would change if trouble were to come his way as a result of the Miami New Times report from earlier this week, but from everything I’ve read, he’s not in grave danger like other players, including Alex Rodriguez, who reportedly were supplied by the clinic suspected of distributing performance-enhancing drugs. Gonzalez is a pitcher I have been tracking dating back to his first stint with the White Sox, through his multiple trades, and finally through his debut with the A’s. He has come along slowly and, even after a brilliant age-26 season, he is still not a finished product. 

We finally saw Gonzalez slice into his bloated walk rate last year, as he cut it below 10 percent for the first time in his career and paired it with a career-best 25.2 percent strikeout rate—two improvements that led directly to his breakout campaign. Despite all of that, and even though he logged his lowest pitches-per