OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 20: James Kaprielian #32 of the Oakland Athletics pitches in the top of the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at RingCentral Coliseum on August 20, 2021 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
It’s always nice to see your former players thriving, right, Yankees fans?
Unless you traded them away for poor performance in return or dumped them for unsalted peanuts like Garrett Whitlock. In that case, it’s pretty infuriating — especially during a lockout, where we’re hanging on for dear life to anything perceived as good news. “What’s that? Carlos Correa hasn’t put the Yankees on his Do Not Call List? No. 28, here we come!”
Sure, we may not have specific beefs with most ex-Yanks. I’m sure we all wish Dustin Fowler well, especially after his Yankee career ended in such tragic fashion thanks to what looked like a circuit breaker in play in right field in Chicago. Still, even with the best of intentions, it still stings to see “What Could Have Beens” dominate.
And … that brings us to James Kaprielian, who we traded to Oakland in the Sonny Gray deal, only to see him hit MLB with one of the most effective fastballs in the entire league. Better than Max Scherzer. Better than Jacob deGrom. Weep, Mets. Weep more, Yankees.
Would we make the Gray trade again? Of course we would. Three unproven commodities for an All-Star, and only Kaprielian has made an MLB impact (and it took quite a while).
But when you learn Kaprielian has a top-three most effective fastball in MLB when it hits the heart of the plate? That’s kind of a tough pill to swallow.
At least the rest of this list clarifies one of our free agent crushes! Silver lining.
Highest Whiff % by SPs on fastballs in the heart of the zone
1. Freddy Peralta 25.9% 2. Carlos Rodón 25.3% 3. James Kaprielian 23.6% 4. Jacob deGrom 23.5% 5. Max Scherzer 23.0% pic.twitter.com/1XtHi8Z1tm
— James Schiano (@JeterHadNoRange) December 20, 2021
As the great George Costanza once said, “Jimmy Kap corn … and I don’t care.”
Or, at least, I have to pretend not to care, because I simply have to move on. Dwelling does us no good.
Kaprielian proved in 2021 that he’s exactly what the Yankees hope Clarke Schmidt still turns into — a perfectly average young starter who could turn into something more (you know, given the fastball potency). He wasn’t exactly Max Scherzer last season (8-5, 4.07 ERA, 123 whiffs in 119.1 innings pitched), but the 27-year-old is cheaply under team control through 2026, and there’s obvious room to grow according to his profile.
For now, we’ll try not to get too bummed out about Kaprielian’s natural talents, and we’ll focus instead on the fact that the Yankees could have one of the other guys on this list for money alone.
The Yankees are interested in Carlos Rodón, per @scotgregor
The 29-year-old lefty finished fifth in Cy Young voting last season with the White Sox. He had a 2.37 ERA and 185 strikeouts over 132.2 innings in 24 starts
FULL STORY: https://t.co/r3UaQKwCjX pic.twitter.com/IuD29MTaK0
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) December 13, 2021
Stop fretting over Rodón’s injury risk. It’s baked in. It’s part of his profile.
When he’s healthy, though, he’s one of the elite heat-chuckers in all of baseball. That’s worth the price of admission, and the Yankees should follow their reported interest here.
It’s not Scherzer, but it’s a start.
Yankees: 3 trade pieces NYY should buy for 2022 season
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