Paxton, Clevinger, Hamels, Mikolas, Giolito, Glasnow, Sale, etc.
News, and not good news for any of them.
It seems like pitchers are dropping faster than hookers knickers on pay day at the mine and Spring Training games haven't even started yet!
Does it alter our draft plans?
Maybe....a little.
We fool ourselves into thinking we can get ahead of these injuries.
As soon as we do that though, the injuries seem to be on our own roster.
We have two trends of thought when approaching changing our style for injuries...
We could over draft pitching and load up on Aces.
If loading up on deGrom, Cole, and Verlander, you did wonderful.
If loading up on Kluber, Sale, and Taillion, eh, not so great.
We could also wait on pitching and just pinpoint backend starters who may rise to greatness.
If waiting on pitching, then taking Giolito, Castillo, and Sonny Gray, you did great.
If waiting on pitching, then taking German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, and Zack Godley, massive failure.
Sometimes, we fool ourselves into thinking that our methodology won drafts. Most of the time, it is the WHO we picked for that methodology, not the methods themselves.
We fear a loss of pitching, so we react in one way way or another.
We shouldn't.
In Drafts Champions leagues, I have adjusted my roster percentages.
Now, I don't mind a 27-23 or 28-22 split between offense and pitching.
Before, 20 pitchers, I felt, were enough.
More than ever, there are offensive players who offer dual positionality.
Positionality is a larger benefit for Draft Champions leagues than Main Event leagues.
Pitching is a different story. Once a pitcher goes down, he is gone and the replacement will be of lesser quality.
While that replacement is of lesser quality, he will still be adding to counting stats. Such as they are.
Just as a FAAB replacement will do so in the Main Event.
There is another train of thought as well.
With all of these really good pitchers not opening the season with their teams, offense may even be better than last year.
It's hard to fathom, but it may be true.
Even more home runs.
If this is the thought, shouldn't we draft more offense?
Ha!
We can drive ourselves crazy in letting these injuries dictate what to do in a draft.
The one takeaway from this post is to draft any which way you see fit.
But when you do, get the WHO right. Not the band, the player.
Everything else will fall into place.