The Dark Knight Meets Ray Knight?

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

The Dark Knight Meets Ray Knight?

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Tue May 15, 2018 10:31 am

I have a rule when it comes to FAAB.
Do not put any player in any thread that I would be too afraid to play.
This may seem like a simple rule.
It isn't.
I had a phone call from a fellow NFBC'er. He told me that he had just picked up Matt Harvey for a dollar.
He was actually happy about the pickup.

We all have different opinions about Matt Harvey. Mine is that, fantasy-wise, he is a land mind.
Some starts, a suitable pitcher.
But when he steps on that land mind, he blows up our stats.
So I asked my friend, 'Are you going to pitch him?"
He replied that a start in San Francisco would be perfect for Harvey.
In my mind, I pictured land minds littering AT&T Park.

I remembered that Harvey had trouble with the Giants in the past and a quick look at his history confirmed it.
Harvey has given up homers to four Giants hitters.
Buster Posey, 5-8 against Harvey.
Harvey started his career and ignited his 'Dark Knight' status with three years of an ERA under 3.00
The last three years, Harvey has seen his E.R.A. closer to 6.00
For those that believe that Harvey displayed a skill and 'owns it', well, that is worth a dollar on the FAAB heap.

Harvey is only 29.
His backers know there is time to right a ship that has gone severely off course.
His detractors know that he has gone through many health problems and that the 'Dark Knight' has suffered defeat at the hands of his own body.
For me, Matt Harvey is not a FAAB thought.
He breaks my rule of being too afraid to start him.
Even if navigating AT&T without a blow up, what of the future?
His home park is one of the most hitter friendly in baseball. While cold weather insulates pitchers, hot temps in Cincinnati has the opposite effect. Cincinnati has not had a consistent pitcher in memory.
It is a tough place to pitch during Summer. Hitters have their way in Cincy. Especially in a ballpark that embraces the long ball.
Do you know who has had the most 15 game-winning seasons in Cincinnati?
If not familiar with the name Frank Dwyer, don't feel bad.
Dwyer pitched before the 20th century.
Yet, Dwyer holds the Reds record for throwing seven seasons of winning 15 games.
I nicknamed Cincinnati in my own mind as 'The place where pitchers go to die'.
Historically, Harvey couldn't have landed in a worse place to further his career.

But for fantasy baseball, we don't care much for history.
Only the future.
Harvey has a two-start week coming up after the Giants.
One, in Cincy vs. Pittsburgh.
The other in even a worse spot for him, Coors Field at Colorado.
If having success against the Giants, my friend may have the courage to throw Harvey in his two-start week.
I wish him luck.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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