Houston Astros Sign Doug Fister: Fantasy Fallout
By Bill Pivetz
The Houston Astros added starting pitching depth by signing Doug Fister to a one-year deal. Here’s hoping 2015 was a fluke and he can be an important piece.
The Houston Astros didn’t need to improve much in the offseason. They have the 2015 American Cy Young award winner, Rookie of the Year, and an all-star shortstop. Though, it doesn’t help to add pieces to make the team that much better the following season. The Astros brought in veteran starting pitcher Doug Fister. After a down year, the Houston, and fantasy owners, is hoping for a bounce back season.
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The Astros were lucky enough to have Dallas Keuchel in their rotation because the rest of the staff did not pitch well. Lance McCullers showed promise, a 3.22 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 6-7 record in 22 starts. The other four pitchers did not have an ERA below 3.89 and WHIP below 1.30. While Fister is not likely to lower the team ERA and WHIP, he definitely can’t hurt it.
Doug Fister pitched in five seasons between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. He went 44-50 with a 3.53 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 6.3 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 130 games. He was then traded to the Washington Nationals and had a career year in 2014.
In 25 starts (164 innings), he went 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 5.4 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9. He finished eighth in the National League Cy Young voting. He didn’t strike out many batters, but he also kept them off base with 153 hits and 24 walks. However, he couldn’t keep it up the following season.
He made just 15 starts in the 2015 season after dealing with injuries and losing his spot in the rotation. He went 4-7 with a 4.60 ERA, 1.45 WHIP and .302/.341/.471 opposing batting line. He improved when he went to the bullpen, 2.12 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and .254/.329/.381 line.
Doug Fister is known as a ground ball pitcher, 48.8 career percentage. He induced just a 44.6 ground ball rate and an extreme 34.1 fly ball rate in 2015. His 12.0 HR/FB and 29.5 hard hit rates are the highest since his 2009 rookie season. Nationals Park leans towards being a hitters park, but it wasn’t outrageous that it would have affected Fister’s numbers.
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The Astros signed Doug Fister to a low-risk, high-reward deal. With some questions in the back-end of the rotation, Fister will compete for one of those spots. If he enters Spring Training with a clean bill of health, then he could be a serviceable pitcher in 2016. I don’t think he’ll get back to 2014 status, but he’ll be better than last season. He’ll rank just outside my top-100 pitchers by Opening Day.
Projections: 9-9, 3.75 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 92 strikeouts
Draft: N/A