Finding this year's Justin Steele
Mar 6 2024
Justin Steele (LHP, CHC) was barely being drafted inside the Top 300 this time last season. Over 170 innings of a 3.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 176 strikeouts later, he's nearly a Top-100 pick coming off one of the more profitable breakouts of 2023.
The purpose of this column is to find this year's version of Steele, looking back on Steele's pre-breakout indicators to see which pitchers in the pool check similar boxes. We're looking for some combination of the following:
- A 150+ ADP. We can't be picking low-hanging fruit here. Steele was nearly free in drafts with a 293 ADP entering 2023.
- Volume. Steele threw a career-high (at the time) 119 IP in 2022, so we'll set a similar filter here on starters who threw 100+ innings in 2023.
- A good...
Almost!
You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
More From Speculator
An early look at which starting pitchers have switched up their pitch mix the most, and whether or not it's working.
May 7 2025 3:07am
May 7 2025 3:07am
Slow starts, or is something wrong beneath the hood? We speculate...
Apr 30 2025 3:10am
Apr 30 2025 3:10am
Our annual April exercise at those projected for the best skills, but haven't had the playing time to get there.
Apr 23 2025 3:09am
Apr 23 2025 3:09am
Most starters are 3-4 starts in... time to overreact with some (skills-based!) snap judgments.
Apr 16 2025 3:06am
Apr 16 2025 3:06am
Spencer Torkelson's turnaround is getting plenty of QBaB support.
Apr 9 2025 3:02am
Apr 9 2025 3:02am
