Fantasy Baseball 2012: The Curious Case of Oakland A's Pitcher Tom Milone

Jay ClemonsApr 10, 2012

My knee-jerk reaction was to cut Tom Milone.

My second thought, roughly two hours later, was to drop him once more.

But after a night of reasonably sound sleep and quiet reflection, Milone still owns a spot on the 16-team Philanthropist League roster.

A tenuous one.

On Monday night, Milone became the first pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2006 to throw eight scoreless innings without registering one strikeout (according to HardballTalk.com), a great feat in real-world circles, but one of ambivalent glory in fantasyland.

Yes, it's wonderful that Milone stifled the Royals, earned the victory and posted a sub-1.00 WHIP in his first start as an entrenched member of the Athletics' overhauled rotation. And yes, it's probably ludicrous to make judgments on a talented player after just one game.

But as Milone works his way through the American League hitters, and the hitters adjust to his methodical approach to pitching—a nice way of saying Milone doesn't have high heat to fall back on—it's fair to wonder:

Is Milone destined to become a four-strikeouts-or-less asset per start? And if so, how valuable will he be once teams notch two, three or even four runs per outing?

Milone was an intriguing flier pick two weeks ago, based on three factors:

1. His No. 10 slot in Baseball America's Top 10 Prospect rankings for the Athletics.

2. Rock-solid numbers from four minor league seasons (with the Nationals): 37-22, 3.05 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 465/84 K/BB ratio and 9.1 K/9 ratio (2010-11).

3. The A's will likely give Milone every opportunity to succeed this season, buying time for their more heralded prospects—with early-to-mid-'90s fastballs—to develop in the minors, unfettered.

Verdict: Obviously, no one should drop a starter who allows two or less runs and three or fewer walks per outing, but this introspective exercise isn't about one sterling appearance against Kansas City (without Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas in the lineup). It's about the season-long concerns of rostering a pitcher who doesn't specialize in strikeouts, my favorite category to chase in fantasy circles.

There are also WHIP concerns, as in, how can Milone maintain a good WHIP if the ball's in play for 21 to 27 outs per start?

Thankfully, no definitive judgments have to be made right now.

Milone lives to fight—and hopefully miss bats—for another day. Just like Verlander during his rookie campaign of 17 wins and 120-plus strikeouts.