STARTERS: Early surprises 2016

When it comes to starting pitchers, many owners are prepared to live with early season surprises, for the good and bad. After all, small data samples lend themselves to large swings in surface stats.

But it can be easy to get impatient when you have a struggling SP. Conversely, not all SP who have started the season strong are worth holding for the long haul.

A more effective approach is to look at the skills underlying a starting pitcher's surface stats.

Here are a bunch of guys in each league whose early season performances warrant a closer look.

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chris Archer (RHP, TAM) owns a horrible 7.32 ERA and 2.08 WHIP after his first four starts, giving some owners reason to make him available via trade. Don't follow suit. A...

Almost!

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