Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte is my favorite baseball player.  A family member of mine taught him in high school, and once upon a time he took less money to play for my favorite team, the Houston Astros. 

That same family member is telling me he’s heard that today the Yankees will announce Pettitte is returning to the team.  On a personal level, I couldn’t be more excited about this.  As a fantasy blogger, I’m wondering if there is anything to be excited about.

Pettitte threw 129 innings in 2010 at the age of 38.  Thanks to a bit of luck in the strand rate department he posted a 3.28 ERA.  However, his xFIP was an even 4.00.  Now at the age of 40, you’d think an ERA of 4.00 would about be his ceiling.  But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have value in deeper leagues.  He topped 7.00 K/9 in ’10, and his career rate is 6.78.  Assuming he could throw 150 innings, he could be a nice source of wins and K’s in AL-only leagues.

Hits will be an issue as Pettitte is a groundball pitcher without a ton of velocity, and his control is acceptable but not great (career 3.08 BB/9).  You may take a bit of a WHIP hit (≈1.35), but almost every guy going late in an AL only league is going to hurt your WHIP.  Few have the potential for 10+ wins and a decent K rate.

Written by Brett Talley exclusively for thefantasyfix.com.  Brett is a law student in Dallas who name drops Kevin Goldstein.  You can tell him to shut up and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @therealTAL.

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