The Best Pitchers in the NL

Roy Oswalt

After reading another great post on Fantasy Baseball Island, I decided to take a look at which NL pitcher will be the best this year. To me, it is a six-headed monster: Ben Sheets, Brandon Webb, Chris Carpenter, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, and Carlos Zambrano. Some notes on each:

Sheets: It seems like he could be the best if healthy. Last year posted 116 K's and only 11 BB's, which are just unheard of numbers. In 2004, he posted even better numbers, when he finished the year with 264 K's, a 2.70 ERA, and a 0.98 WHIP. Somehow, he managed to finish that season with a 12-14 record. Was his run support that bad? It's hard to say. Sheets is currently from shoulder problems.

Webb: Last year's NL Cy Young Award Winner, Webb has one of the nastiest sinkerballs in the game of baseball. Not especially dominant on the strikeout end, he wins games by forcing groundouts (2/3 of balls put in play against Webb last year were grounders) and by not giving up a lot of walks (1.9/9 IP last year).

Carpenter: The 2005 NL Cy Young Winner, Carpenter may also suffer burnout this year after pitching 462 innings the last two years. Carpenter has won fifteen or more games the last three years, peaking with 21 in 2005. It is likely that the Cardinals' run support has played a big role in that. Carpenter finished last season with a second half (9-4, 0.96 WHIP, 5.6 K/BB) that he doesn't get worn down by the end of a full season.

Oswalt: Is the lone ranger in Houston now that Pettitte has returned to New York and Roger Clemens may not be returning. Does not get a lot of strikeouts, but Oswalt is Mr. Reliable, as he has finished with an ERA of 3.01 or less four of the last five years. Had a second half similar to Carpenter's (9-5, 5.4 K/BB). Has had 20 wins two of the last three years.

Peavy: Has awesome strikeout ability, recording 100 K's in each half last year. A troubling trend emerged though, as Peavy's command ratio dipped by two whole points in the second half due to his loss of strike zone control. Should improve upon last years 11-14 record. May benefit from pitching alongside Greg Maddux all season.

Carlos Zambrano: For someone who started pitching exclusively at the major league level when he was twenty years old, Zambrano has not suffered, yet. He may, as he has pitched 200 or more innings each of the last four years. Has never had very good control of the strike zone, so last years 1.29 WHIP shouldn't come as a huge surprise. Has an awesome strikeout ratio (8.0 or better three years in a row).

So by my earliest estimates, here's my ranking:
1. Roy Oswalt
2. Brandon Webb
3. Chris Carpenter
4. Ben Sheets
5. Jake Peavy
6. Carlos Zambrano

Stay tuned!