MLB

Fantasy Baseball: 5 Strike Throwers Who Could Break Out in 2017

Matt Kupferle  —  @MKupferle Mar 8th, 2017
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Michael Pineda, New York Yankees

First-Pitch Strike Rate: 67.3% (Rank: 8th)

Swinging-Strike Rate: 14.1%

If you can figure out Michael Pineda, we'd all love to take a glimpse into that crystal ball. Even his own manager struggles to do so, given the young righty has tremendous stuff, but the results don't match up with said stuff.

Pineda got ahead in the count often, and his swinging-strike rate of 14.1% led to a career-high 207 strikeouts last season, but it also led to a career-worst 4.82 ERA. In a nutshell, Pineda can be baffling.

But it would appear if Pineda can improve upon his command finishing innings -- he permitted a .980 OPS with two outs last year -- the sky is the limit.

With that combined first-pitch strike rate and those swings and misses, the Pineda breakout may be coming. Pineda was absolutely dominant in his first outing this spring, and hopefully that's a sign of a breakout 2017 season.

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