ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Can of Corncast: The Barney Stinson Rule, ‘New is Always Better’

Aug 2, 2015, 4:50 PM | Updated: 7:35 pm

St. Louis Cardinals' Stephen Piscotty hits an RBI-single during the seventh inning of a baseball ga...

St. Louis Cardinals' Stephen Piscotty hits an RBI-single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

(AP Photo/Scott Kane)

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In case you’re unfamiliar, Barney Stinson is played by Neil Patrick Harris on the television show, “How I Met Your Mother.”  While he’s referring to good-looking women in the quote above, it also applies quite well to fantasy baseball during the mid-to-late-season months.

In the beginning of the baseball season, everyone has their eye on the waiver wire, hoping to pick up the next breakout player. There’s always a few guys who go undrafted but are regulars in their team’s lineups that finally put it all together to produce at an All-Star level. We’ve seen it from Brandon Crawford this season, as well as with a pair of D-backs outfielders in Ender Inciarte and David Peralta.

Once you get into the later months, the breakout guys are either taken or have cooled off considerably, leaving a lot of the same names on your free agent list. I’m sure you’ve had plenty of opportunities to pick up Torii Hunter, Kevin Pillar and Taijuan Walker, but as the season wears on, new players are brought up from the minors on a regular basis and can sometimes turn your team from a dud into a contender, or at the very least, from a dud into a team that won’t be finishing in last place.

Today I present you with two options: One for your pitching staff and the other for your outfield or utility slot.

The number one prospect in the New York Yankees system is Luis Severino, a starting pitcher (24 percent owned in Yahoo leagues) who will make his debut this upcoming Wednesday against the Red Sox.

There’s a bit of a question mark surrounding his numbers this season, as he’s performed much better at Triple-A than Double-A. A quick comparison of the two, in eight starts, his ERA at Double-A Trenton was 3.32 with a .227 BAA, while at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, it’s 1.91/.184. He also has 50 K’s in 61.1 Triple-A innings to go along with his 1.91 ERA.  That’s the type of stuff you want to see when picking up a guy making his debut.

You might say, “Aw, those Triple-A numbers this year are fluky if he was such an average pitcher in Double-A this year.” To which I will respond, “No sir! The outlier here are those Double-A numbers from this season!”

Maybe he felt he deserved the promotion before the season, but was unhappy when he was sent to Double-A. Maybe he lost a little confidence and gained it back when he was promoted. Either way, if you include his shaky start to 2015, his career minors ERA is 2.30 with a .212 BAA. The guy also rarely gives up home runs, surrendering only eight in his 321 minor league innings. For comparison, only nine of the top-50 MLB innings-pitched leaders (ranging from 124 IP to 157) have given up eight or less home runs this year.

In the National League, one club is at it again with young stars. I had only seen this player’s name on prospect lists when it was announced he was being called up, but knowing the Cardinals and their long history of success with home-grown, drafted players, I shot first and asked the questions later. Welcome to my outfield Stephen Piscotty!

Here is a list of some of the players currently on the Cardinals 25-man roster who were original St. Louis draft picks: Yadier Molina, Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter, Matt Adams, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn, Jamie Garcia and Trevor Rosenthal. All of these guys are fantasy impact players, or have been at some point in their careers, and I wasn’t about to let Piscotty slip through the waiver wire to one of my opponents. This season he played 87 games at Triple-A Memphis and hit 11 homers with 41 RBI while scoring 54 runs and hitting .272. He’s a career .288 hitter in the minors with an OBP of .360 because he walks a LOT. He’s a very patient hitter and had more walks than RBI (46/41) with Memphis this season and has 144 in 390 career minor league games.

Through 11 games in the majors, Piscotty is hitting .375 with five RBI, four runs scored and three walks. While he’s struck out six times, his OPS is still excellent for the small sample-size at .885. Since his third start on June 26, Piscotty is riding an eight-game hitting streak (through Sunday) where he’s hitting .461. He’s become a solid every-day player and got his first start at first base on Sunday. If you’re looking for some new blood or have any doubts about your current outfield, first base or utility situation, get this guy on your team!

Story written by Andy Greenberg.

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Can of Corncast: The Barney Stinson Rule, ‘New is Always Better’