Fantasy Baseball: Tracking Strikeouts/9 and Ground Ball Percentage

I’d like to kick off the Fantasy Baseball coverage here at SB Nation by taking a look at starting pitchers. Most baseball fans look at how many wins a starting pitcher has to determine whether that pitcher is good or not. But, wins are dependent on alot of variables outside of the pitcher’s control such as: run support, bullpen success, the quality of the defense behind him, and in some cases the ballpark itself.

While it is very difficult to predict wins, it is a little easier to predict which pitchers will provide a fantasy owner a solid ERA and WHIP when you look deeper into the pitcher’s peripheral stats. Peripheral stats are strikeouts per 9 (K/9), walks per 9 (BB/9), Command (K/BB), ground ball percentage (GB%), and strand rate (LOB%).