Fantasy Baseball: 5 Starting Pitcher Sleepers to Target in 2017
Statistically speaking, it can be easy to put more weight on a player’s early-season numbers than what they do later in the year. After all, whatever happens early is backed by the fact that all these things start at zero.
And whether a player digs a big hole, plays really well or is just somewhere in the middle, baseball is a game of adjustments. Few players are like Noah Syndergaard was this season -- where a guy has basically the same first half (2.56 ERA, 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings) as he does in the second (2.65 ERA, 10.4 strikeouts per nine).
In fantasy baseball, those second halves can be pivotal for offseason research, and doubly so for exploiting potential value as it pertains to undervalued assets moving forward.
Playing better in the second half doesn’t always mean a player will pick up where they left off in the spring, but a lot of times, those few days off for the All-Star Game can result in some tweaks being made, or ultimately, just figuring some things out on their own. Nevertheless, it provides a clean, natural break for two halves that can be analyzed individually -- perhaps even overly so.
The goal here is to look at some guys who had ridiculously good second halves -- perhaps unbeknownst to anyone but their most fervent followers -- and try to provide you with some sneaky picks heading into next spring’s drafts.
