(*) STARTERS: Early 2013 Rotation Anchors

The following article appeared in the September 26, 2012 edition of Sports Weekly.

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Thinking in advance about building your 2013 starting rotation can give you a leg up on your competition.

Some will do this by looking at pitchers' win-loss records or ERA. You know by now that those marks are misleading. They are shaped by factors that are outside of a pitcher's control, such as his lineup, defense and bullpen. We prefer to look at a pitcher's base skills, such as his strikeout rate (K/9), walk rate (BB/9) and command ratio (K/BB). Our research has shown that good base skills often lead to good surface stats, such as ERA.

Let's use this method to target young, under-the-radar starting pitchers around whom you can build your...

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