Fantasy Baseball: A Look at Shairon Martis

Shairon Martis is not a pitcher that I have spent much time discussing, but it really is time to acknowledge his early season success.  Let’s take a look at how he’s kicked off his 2009:

5 Wins
41.2 Innings
4.10 ERA
1.37 WHIP
21 Strikeouts (4.54 K/9)
17 Walks (3.67 BB/9)
.277 BABIP

The strikeout number is likely the first thing that jumps out at you.  It would appear like he has the potential to be one of the all-time worst strikeout pitchers, but the numbers really are not indicative of his true potential.

Over his minor league career he posted a K/9 of 7.5, not elite but far more respectable then his major league numbers.  While it is a small sample size, at Triple-A last season he struck out 42 batters over 41.2 innings.  That certainly makes you slightly more excited, no?

Former Nationals General Manager, Jim Bowden, was quoted on mlb.com as saying, “This is a guy with three plus pitches. He has a great frame. He goes right at them. He has always been one of our favorites. He is already in Triple-A at age 21. This is a Major League starting pitcher. He is going to pitch in the big leagues and be successful.”

His fastball is currently averaging 90.3 mph, and is said to touch 94 mph. He compliments it with a slider, curveball and change-up. That seems like an arsenal that could generate far more strikeouts then he has.

He’s shown the ability to strikeout a few batters, with a pair of six strikeout games on 5/2 & 5/8.  In his other five starts he’s struck out 3 batters or less. Obviously, he’s not a pitcher that you are going to count on to generate a ton of Ks.

He’s never going to be a consistent seven-plus strikeout a game guy, but he’s shown the flashes of that and I easily could see him settling in to being a 6.00 K/9 pitcher as the season progresses. That’s still far from an elite number, so it is not like I’m going out on a very big limb.

You also have to view the BABIP, which is on the lower side. It puts him in a tie for 35th in the league through Saturday’s games. Last season it would have ranked him 13th, so it is likely that a regression is going to come sooner or later.

Considering that he is already carrying a WHIP of 1.37, that type of regression is not likely to make fantasy owners happy. If you eliminate his first start (3 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB), his WHIP is just 1.34, so it is more manageable.

Obviously, what it comes down to is the walks, which unfortunately is not something he may improve on too much.  His minor league BB/9 was 3.00 (and WHIP was 1.31), so the numbers really are not significantly far off from what he’s done thus far.

While the walks could decrease slightly, he is likely to offset that with a few more hits allowed. I certainly wouldn’t pick him up expecting an elite WHIP option by any stretch of the imagination. He’s proven throughout his career that he’s a 1.31 WHIP pitcher or worse, so keep that in mind.

What exactly do we have? A pitcher who should improve his strikeout rate, but isn’t an elite option there. He has proven to be an adequate WHIP pitcher, as well as be able to limit opponents scoring.

No, he’s not a must own pitcher by any stretch, especially pitching for the Nationals, but if the match-ups are favorable I’d put him right along the lines of a Kyle Lohse type pitcher.  He has value in deeper mixed formats, and so does Martis, in a pitch-and-ditch manner at least.  If you need a fill-in, I wouldn’t hesitate.

What do you think?  Is Martis a pitcher who is usable?

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