When someone nominated Kyle Barraclough for auction in one of my league’s last week, it barely even registered with me. I’d looked him up back at the start of the summer when he was making waves for his mass of strikeouts and I didn’t like what I saw. Firstly, he pronounces his name ‘bear claw’ – which is incomprehensible. Secondly, sure he was piling up the strikeouts (20 K/9!) – but his walk rate (9 BB/9!) made him all but unownable. On June 2nd, his line read:
In the past three months, however, Barraclough seems to have really turned a corner. The strikeouts are still there – though not as high as before – but the walks are much more under control. His stats for August:
Giving him an overall season line on September 1st of:
I ended up bidding on him – and winning him for $7. If he can maintain his August form and keep the walks down, I see him as a keeper for 2017 at that price. If not, I’ll probably throw him back and see if I can bag him for less than $9 in the draft.
I’ve still not come to terms with calling him ‘bear claw’ though.
This is great. I’ve been carrying the Bear Claw most of the season in one league and he’s certainly intriguing. He’s only 26 y/o and the biggest positive is the super suppression of HR this year.
Thanks for posting this.
Thanks Trey - yes, I forgot to mention the HR rates: they are excellent.
What salary do you have him at? And what do you think his keep/cut line is for 2017?
I own him for $3 in 530. He’s at 8.4 P/IP YTD (FGPTS). If he somehow moves into a closers role next year, I think he could be a 9.0+ P/IP guy, which would easily make him $10+ I think. That’s sheer speculation, but I’d be comfortable holding him pretty close to $8 heading into the winter. It’s pretty tough to maintain a HR/9 < 0.20 so that fluctuation would have a big impact on his value next year in points leagues. I’d argue he should be owned right now in Roto leagues, too. That 14.0+ K/9 is enticing for sure.
Another quote today from John Sickels about Barraclough:
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I am responsible for writing the 2017 FanGraphs player capsule for Barraclough - mind if i use some of your insight here?
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Sure thing! Hope you find something useful…!
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