Chris Young 2009

When Chris Young (the pitcher) was traded from Texas to San Diego, I had high hopes for him. Although he has put up excellent ERAs each year since then (3.46, 3.12, and 3.96), I've generally been disappointed with his performance. His control has gotten worse each year, and reached a low point 4.3 walks per nine innings in 2008. And he's gone from an extreme flyball pitcher to something beyond that. Young is now probably the most extreme flyball pitcher in baseball, putting up a 21.7% groundball rate last year. Add to that the fact that Young may be the worst pitcher in baseball at preventing stolen bases, and there's a lot to be concerned about. I believe that a combination of a very favorable home park and a whole lot of good luck has helped Young out the past few years, and that there's a high risk that his home runs per fly ball will rise to a more normal level, causing Young to be revealed as a very mediocre pitcher despite his good strikeout rate. I would steer clear of him in 2009, other than possibly using him at home against weak lineups in daily transactions games like Snapdraft and Draftbug.