BALLER MOVE: Target ~350
CURRENT ADP: 374
ANALYSIS: After throwing nearly 900 innings with the Cardinals since 2008, Jaime Garcia was traded to the Braves for three minor leaguers this offseason as he enters the final year of his contract. He had a down year in 2016, with a career-high 4.67 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Some of this can be attributed to injuries; a finger injury affected his ability to grip the baseball, and a recurring blister cost him a fingernail heading into 2016.
Heading into 2017, those issues are behind him, Garcia is looking to right the ship and find success in Atlanta. Last season his K% stayed in line with his career average, but his HR/FB% of 20.2 percent (!!) is likely to revert to his career average of 11.5 percent. His BB% was the highest it’s been since 2010 at 7.7 percent, which should also improve with his finger issues behind him. If he can return to his career averages, Garcia can be a very capable fantasy pitcher with a career ERA/FIP/xFIP of 3.57/3.56/3.48. Injury history is a cause for concern, so grab Garcia late as a big upside arm.
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