SPECULATOR: Finding this year's Cristian Javier

This time last year, Cristian Javier (RHP, HOU) was on the outside looking in as a sixth starter on HOU's rotation.

Quick aside—what a call by Stephen Nickrand to not only get Javier, but to nail the article's cover boy, Spencer Strider, and Tyler Anderson. Lesson: never miss Stephen's SP Buyers Guide.

Nearly 150 innings of a 2.54 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 194 strikeouts later, Javier is a consensus Top-75 pick who is currently shooting up draft boards.

The purpose of this column is to find this year's version of Javier, looking back on Javier's pre-breakout skills to see which pitchers in this year's pool check similar boxes:

  • An above-average strikeout-minus-walk ratio (15% K-BB%).
  • Ability to miss bats (= 12% swinging-strike rate...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Speculator

We continue our "UP"side updates on the pitching side, plus a look at all players with "DN"-side boxes in the 2025 Baseball Forecaster
Jan 29 2025 3:05am
The Speculator returns with our annual update on Baseball Forecaster "UP:" siders whose outlooks may have changed since the book went to press.
Jan 22 2025 3:02am
We follow up on some early (and mid) season speculations to find out what went right, what went wrong, and what actually happened.
Sep 10 2024 3:03am
Our annual exercise of giving out second chances to those who, frankly, stunk up the joint in 2024.
Sep 4 2024 3:04am
Things get weird in September. We look through some fantasy-relevant playing time experiments, with tidbits from the remaining schedule.
Aug 28 2024 3:07am

Tools