Young crop of pitchers poses interesting fantasy question

Harvey, Cingrani, or Sale.

They are all 24 years old, all have amazing stuff, and each has impressed in the major leagues. They are all on my fantasy team. I already have David Price, so I can only keep one after this season. Until today, it was a no-brainer: Matt Harvey was poised to be dominant for years to come.

Now, it’s a serious question. Who do I keep? Here’s a break-down.

Chris Sale has proven pretty reliable over his first two full seasons as a starter. By Keith Allison on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

Note: the league I’m in allows league members to keep two pitchers and two hitters each year. You can only keep a single player twice in a row before he has to be traded or go back into the draft.

Chris Sale

Sale is, by far, the most seasoned of the three pitchers. In his first full year as a starter in 2012, he was an All-Star and finished 6th in Cy Young voting. Sale’s awkward, left-handed motion is tough on batters. Some said he would fall-off considerably this season after increasing his innings pitched from 71 in 2011 to 192 in 2012.

But Sale has continued to dominate. He has improved his control, posted a lower WHIP and an equal ERA+ this season compared to last — all while maintaining a similar number of innings. His record doesn’t reflect it, but he has truly had a great season.

 Matt Harvey

It was a no-brainer. Matt Harvey was going to be a keeper. In his first season starting, the 24 year-old was leading the league in strikeouts, started the All-Star Game in his hometown, and claimed the hearts of Mets fans with little else to cheer about.

But today came crushing news for both the Mets and my fantasy team (incidentally named Harvey’s Honeyhuts).

Matt Harvey looks like he’s having Tommy John surgery. For pitchers, Tommy John surgery means that Harvey is probably out for the entirety of next season and, when he does come back, he will surely have a Strasburg-like innings limit. He is tempting to keep and stash, but if I did that I would be, at some level, giving up on next season. It takes more than a winning record or being top-5 in points in my league to get into the playoffs, and I don’t think I could ever make it back there with a keeper sitting on the bench all season.

 Tony Cingrani

Tony Cingrani may be the most interesting out of the three of these players. A guy who throws a lot of fastballs — Cingrani pitches at a hitters park (so does Sale), but has managed to rack-up strikeouts and wins when he has pitched.

Unlike Sale or Harvey, the Reds have treated Cingrani with kid gloves, staggering his starts and generally keeping his innings down around 100 for the season at the Major League level.

Cingrani may be the least polished of all three — throwing his fastball at an insanely-high rate (85% in 2012). Add onto that a 10.3 K/9 rate and you can see why Cingrani is also an enticing upside guy for next season.

Crap. This is gonna be a tough decision.

What do you think? Who should I keep? Who will I be kicking myself when I don’t have them in 2 years?