Kevin asked about Scott Kazmir, and expressed concern over his performance this year. Honestly, I am also concerned about him. He has thrown 1848 pitches in his first 17 starts this year. That is an average of 109 pitches per start. After the shoulder injury that he had last year, this is something that should cause concern for Fantasy Baseball owners. His control has also been off, because he averages only 6 innings per start even with his high pitch counts. Unfortunately, last year seems to be the odd ball year where he demonstrated good control with a WHIP of 1.27. The previous two years, and this year, his WHIP has always been 1.46 or above. That control is killing his ERA, and in turn, his trade value. Unless something drastically changes, I don’t see his WHIP falling below 1.50 at any point this season.

Sure his BABIP is at .342 but I think that his control and Tampa Bay’s defense is what is to blame. He will often fall behind hitters, and like last night, will throw eleven straight balls at any point in time. His BABIP my be inflated, and look like he is unlucky, but Tampa Bay is second in the league in errors committed, and they do not have the best range. When Scott Kazmir falls behind in counts, and hitters are sitting on fastballs, the defense just is not there to pick him up. Those are the two main factors in his high BABIP, at least as I can see.

The other item that is concerning me is the team he plays on. The Rays are quickly becoming sellers in the trade market, and that means that Reyes may be moved to another team. Reyes is the only pitcher in the bullpen that has been consistent all year long. Of course, he also just landed on the DL, which doesn’t help things at all. There have been several leads over the last few weeks that have been blown well before they get to Reyes. As if the tough AL East lineups were not enough, and very weak bullpen will extremely limit the ability for Scott Kazmir to pick up wins.

So should you trade him, or stay the course? Personally, I am looking to trade him while I can. Wait until he has a solid start, and then start shopping him around immediately after. Especially if you are in a non-keeper league, or if you have no plans on keeping him next year. Try to find an owner who has a need for strikeouts, and combine him with another player and make him an offer he can’t refuse. In fact I just completed a deal that I used Kazmir and another player to get Matsuzaka.

Those are my thoughts on Scott Kazmir.