Fantasy Baseball: Are You Flipping for Felipe Paulino?

Sure, he’s only made four starts this year, but Kansas City’s Felipe Paulino is certainly turning heads. In three of his four starts this year, he did not allow a run. In his fourth start, he gave up four runs in 5.2 innings, but he still maintains a 2-1 record with a 1.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

Not only is he keeping the opposition from scoring and hitting with his .232 BAA, but he’s also mowing them down via the strikeout. In 25.1 innings, he has registered 29 strikeouts for a 10.3 K/9 ratio.

Obviously, with the success he’s had so far, he looks good no matter what. He hasn’t allowed a run at home and has a solid 2.92 ERA on the road. He’s not getting dominated by right-handed hitters (.282, .744 OPS), and he’s absolutely destroying lefties (.196, .571).

Paulino struggled with the Astros and the Rockies, but has found a home with the Royals. His ERA was north of 5.00 and WHIP north of 1.50 with Houston. He had a 7.36 ERA and 2.05 WHIP as a reliever with Colorado prior to coming over to Kansas City.

That’s when he got on track. The Royals moved him back to a starter, and he responded with a 4.11 ERA and 1.37 ERA in 124.2 innings. The success has clearly carried over this year.

He is currently owned in about 10 percent of fantasy leagues. He has some extra value because he qualifies at RP and SP. I don’t think he can continue on his current pace, but even if he slips to his 2011 numbers with Kansas City, there is some fantasy value there.

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