Texas Rangers: A.J. Griffin quickly becoming a must-own pitcher

The Texas Rangers have a solid pitching staff. The starter with the best ERA and WHIP isn’t who you would expect but needs to be added.

The Texas Rangers may be last in their division but have all the pieces to make a quick turn around and end up in first place. One of those pieces is 29-year-old starting pitcher A.J. Griffin. After a bad first start, he’s flipped the switch and needs to be owned in more leagues.

In his second year with the Rangers, Griffin is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA, 0.852 WHIP, 8.3 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. In his first start, he allowed four runs in 3.1 innings. Since then, he has won four straight games and allowed a combined four runs.

Griffin lowered his line drive rate by over 10 percent. He increased his ground ball rate by five percent and his fly ball rate went up five percent, too. While an increase in the fly ball rate isn’t usually good, Griffin has a 9.5 HR/FB rate, down seven percent from last season.

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He also has 27 strikeouts and six walks in 29.1 innings. His strikeout rate is roughly the same as it was when he first entered the league.

The improvement came from with his walk rate. He had a 3.5 BB/9 last season. Griffin had a 57.2 first pitch strike rate last year. He has a 72.6 first pitch strike rate so far this season.

In his most recent start against the San Diego Padres, Griffin pitched a complete game shutout. He allowed four hits and a walk while striking out four. I understand that it was against the Padres, but they are still a major league team. That is impressive.

Griffin missed all of the 2014 and 2015 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He had a disappointing first year back with the Rangers. In 23 starts, he had a 5.07 ERA, 1.361 WHIP and 7-4 record.

Going forward, his FIP could make way for a regression in his ERA. He isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, but he is limiting opposing base runners. His next start against the Oakland A’s should be a good matchup.

The A’s are hitting .234/.302/.412 with 126 runs scored, 293 strikeouts and 44 home runs. If Griffin can avoid the power surge of Yonder Alonso, he should be just fine.

Next: Justin Wilson is the Tigers new closer

Griffin’s ownership has increased over the last week. He was added in 26 percent of ESPN leagues, making his ownership 30.9 percent. He is still widely available and he has some good matchups coming up.

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