Fantasy Report: Scott Kazmir Experiences Pain in Left Arm
For those of you who are following spring training and gearing up for fantasy baseball drafts, some scary news recently came out of the Tampa Bay (no longer Devil) Rays’ camp.
Young whiz Scott Kazmir was shut down Tuesday afternoon after experiencing pain in his left elbow after his final warm-up pitch before a scrimmage. While it is not uncommon for a pitcher to precautiously shut down an early spring training session, if this injury turns into something serious, it could have an immediate impact on your fantasy drafts.
The left-handed Kazmir has posted stellar numbers since coming to Tampa Bay as part of the Victor Zambrano trade (sorry to remind you, Mets fans). In his short career, Kazmir has struckout an astonishing 617 batters in only 570.2 innings worked.
Despite pitching in the slugging AL East, his career ERA is an impressive 3.64, and last season, he posted career highs in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts while pitching for the last-place Rays: 13 W, 206.2 IP, 3.48 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and an AL-high 239 K’s, which was only one behind major league leader Jake Peavy’s 240.
Kazmir dominates the mound by using a plus four-seam fastball, and then displays a tight slider to finish off hitters, and should be considered a second-tier of fantasy starter with the likes of Dan Haren, Aaron Harang, Chris Young, Roy Oswalt, and Carlos Zambrano.
While the results of the MRI revealed “no serious injury,” the Rays, who have always been cautious with Kid K, announced they plan to shut down the 24 year old for 2 weeks. Kazmir seems confident he should be completely healthy after the two week layoff, but you never want to have your fantasy draft ruined by an injured early round pick. Just keep and eye out on Kazmir and his golden left arm as we progress towards Opening Day.
One man’s pain is another’s pleasure: Rays Index, a site we greatly respected for telling it just how it is, thinks the injury to Kazmir means that there will be “a significantly better chance of seeing (Jeff) Niemann on the opening day roster.” Niemann, a former 1st round pick (4th overall) out of Rice, is the Rays’ 4th rated pitching prospect behind Wade Davis, Jake McGee, and last season’s #1 overall draft pick David Price.
Derek Rang
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February 27th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
No doubt Kazmir has good stuff, but do you think he can cut down on his walks this year? He was in the top 5 in walks allowed, which made him throw a lot more pitches…often leading to him leaving in the 5th and 6th innings because of strict pitch counts.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Kazmir is about to begin is fourth season as a full-time starter in Major League baseball. We can only hope the he is beginning to mature (remember, he is still only 24 years old) and examining his BB/9 rates of the past three seasons:
2005 - 4.84 2006 - 3.23 2007 - 3.87
Kazmir showed his best control in 2006, where he walked a reasonable 3.23 batters per nine, and posted his career-best WHIP of 1.27. His rate spiked last season, but the biggest question is whether Kazmir can regain that 2006 form. He showed tremendous improvement from the 2005 campaign to the 2006, and the Rays will probably let Kazmir (if healthy) pitch deeper into games. Some have though that that manager Joe Maddon and the organization have “nursed” their prized arm and pulled him out of games too early. I would expect the organization is reaching that point where they might loosen the reigns up on Kazmir and let him get into the 6th,, 7th, and 8th innings. This fact could also help his Win total for the year.
But, to answer your question, I personally think he can regain that 2006 form and cut down on the walks, which will allow him to pitcher deeper into games.