Welcome to the 2023 Dynasty Baseball Buy or Sell 5-16-23.
As many of you know it was Mother's Day this past Sunday. I hope everyone was able to celebrate with loved ones and their mothers.
Major League Baseball always does a good job of celebrating Mother's Day and raising awareness for breast cancer as many players wear pink-branded uniforms and accessories, including pink bats. Then they sell off the merchandise and donate 100% of all proceeds to charities.
This has been a running tradition with MLB, and I can appreciate the sentiment. Plus, I think the pink merchandise, especially the bats, is a cool touch and looks very distinct on the field.
I wanted to take the time to acknowledge the stellar job Commissioner Manfred has done with the Mother's Day traditions.
If you missed last week's article, you can read it here. Now let's get into this week's Dynasty Buy or Sell.
2023 Dynasty Baseball Buy or Sell 5-16-23
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Buy
Tanner Bibee, RHP, Cleveland Guardians
The 24-year-old right-handed pitcher is yet another pitching prospect in the Cleveland system that is becoming a plug-and-play pitcher for your dynasty lineups.
Bibee was a fifth-round draft pick in 2021 out of California State Fullerton (CSU). Bibee spent four years at CSU where he had mixed results. In his 40 starts, he finished with a 3.82 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 236 strikeouts and 73 walks.
Once he made the leap to the minors he really started to excel. In his first full season in 2022, he pitched 132 innings and compiled 167 strikeouts with a 2.17 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. Bibee saw his K/9 rate jump by almost 4.00 from his time in college.
The rookie debuted this past month and has now made four starts in 2023. He currently has a 3.22 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 22 strikeouts to only four walks.
Tanner Bibee made it look pretty effortless yesterday, striking out 7 including Shohei Ohtani twice.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/HsKCQJN4R5
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 15, 2023
While he features a four-pitch mix of a fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup, he relies more heavily on his fastball and slider combo. His slider is a great secondary offering that he uses as a true out pitch. His slider is generating a 41% whiff rate and a 27% put-away rate.
Bibee projects a solid SP3 in the near future. If he can continue to generate the swing-and-miss type stuff that he has showcased so far, he has the potential to have the upside of an SP2.
Sell
Mike Clevinger, RHP, Chicago White Sox
The newest member of the South Side's starting rotation should be on your sell list. So far Clevinger is having a rough start to his first season with the Chicago White Sox.
He has made eight starts and has a 4.79 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and only two wins and two quality starts. Both his WHIP and ERA rank in the bottom 20 of all qualified pitchers.
He has also seen his strikeout numbers dip. He is currently only striking out 19% of batters faced while also walking 10% of them. His 9.3% K-BB rate is his lowest since his rookie year back in 2016. His CSW% has also declined in 2023. He currently has a 23% CSW rate which is 6% lower than his career average.
The advanced stats give even more reason to have concerns. His xBA, xSLG, and xERA all rank well below the league average. Furthermore, his FIP and xFIP are almost a whole run worse than his ERA, and his 5.26 FIP ranks as the No. 10 worst among all qualified pitchers.
Not only did Clevinger have off-the-field issues this past offseason, but he is struggling to start the year. Therefore I would be looking to sell wherever possible.
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