Doug Fister

Just as fantasy owners scrambled to find quality pitching throughout the season, MLB teams were searching for arms to fill vacancies. The Red Sox swooped in and claimed Fister off waivers in June, and while the surface numbers were uninspiring (4.88 ERA, 1.38 WHIP), the peripherals featured a career-high 8.3 K/9. It came at the expense of control, as Fister uncharacteristically issued a lot of walks (3.8 BB/9, also a career high), but at times he looked like a successful late-career restoration project for the Red Sox. In addition to changing his position on the pitching rubber, Fister started getting more whiffs with his cutter, giving him another pitch (along with his curveball) to put hitters away. Given the league-wide need for depth arms, Fister signed with the Rangers and will join the Texas rotation.

Fister turned the trick of surviving with a sub-90 mph fastball for several years, but it appears the jig is up, as the right-hander is coming off a 32-start campaign with career-worst numbers in the fantasy-relevant categories of ERA and WHIP. He hasn't carried a strikeout rate higher than 5.7 K/9 since 2013, but the escalated homer rate of the past few years was joined by a sudden proclivity for the free pass, as Fister's walk frequency jumped more than two full percentage points from his previous high (set in his rookie year) to 8.0 percent. He has morphed his delivery over the years but has been known to employ some weird angles, so perhaps he can correct the walk issue with an adjustment, but his theoretical upside is fading quickly into the rearview mirror. Rostering a subpar strikeout pitcher who eats innings carries a heavy cost in the modern game of high strikeouts, and Fister is unlikely to make up the difference with impeccable ratios.

Fister suffered through an injury-marred campaign in 2015, throwing just 103 innings and posting the worst ERA and WHIP of his career. The lanky right-hander missed a month of action in the first half with a forearm injury, and after struggling upon his return got bumped to the bullpen in late August, where the lone bright spot in his relief stint came when he earned his first career save. The 32-year-old heads into free agency with little fanfare, but could prove to be a bargain signing for someone if he can return to form, as his success is based on his ability to locate down in the zone and generate groundballs with his mid-80s sinker rather than on overpowering hitters and racking up strikeouts. In the right home park, and with the right infield defense behind him, a healthy Fister could well become a reliable arm at the back of the rotation once again.

Stolen from the Tigers by Mike Rizzo in an offseason heist of a trade, Fister would likely have taken a run at his first 20-win season if not for a spring training lat strain that delayed his Nationals debut until early May. As it were, the sinkerballer still won a career-high 16 games while recording a career-low 2.41 ERA, and he proved to be an effective counterpart to the younger flamethrowers in the club's rotation. Surprisingly, for a pitcher moving from the AL to the NL, his strikeout rate dropped, but working in front of an infield defense Fister could actually trust allowed him to pitch to contact with confidence, and his BABIP dropped an incredible 70 points from 2013, while his 1.3 BB/9 was also a career-best mark. Some of those gains are unsustainable, but if he remains in Washington (his pending free agent status after 2015 combined with the Nats' minor league pitching depth could make him expendable), he should be able to produce another solid campaign.

The 30-year-old control maestro solidified his status as a mid-rotation option with a strong showing in 2013. No longer having to deal with a lack of run support, Fister was able to go 14-9, which marked a career high in wins and the first time he finished with a record above .500. His ERA (3.67) and WHIP (1.31) both clocked in higher than his career norms, but both of those increases can be at least partially attributed to his BABIP jumping from .307 in 2012 to .334 last season. For the most part, Fister remained a very similar pitcher compared to what we’ve seen from him over the past few seasons. His strikeout rate (6.9 K/9) dipped closer to his career norm, but Fister remained an extreme groundball pitcher (2.17 GB/FB), who limits free passes (1.9 BB/9) with his pinpoint control. With a fastball that settles in the high-80s, Fister is not overpowering, but he could see an uptick in his strikeout rate with the move to the National League after being acquired by the Nationals in December.

Pitching in his first full season with Detroit, Fister did his best to prove his second-half surge in 2011, while exaggerated, was not a complete fluke. The tall (6-foot-8, 210-pound) righty went just 10-10 for the season, but he was able to post a solid 3.45 ERA and career-best 7.6 K/9. His fastball remained in the 89 mph range, but Fister was able to efficiently keep hitters off-balance with a much-improved curveball and steady changeup. He also remained a control artist (2.8 BB/9) while limiting the long ball (0.8 HR/9). Fister dealt with a costochondral strain early in the year and a concussion scare in the World Series, but all signs point to him being healthy when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. His lack of overpowering stuff might cap his overall upside, but Fister has proven over the past season and a half to be a decent addition to most fantasy rotations.

Fister started the 2011 season with mild success in Seattle, posting 3.33 ERA, 1.171 WHIP and 89:32 K:BB ratio in 146 innings, but he flipped a switched into overdrive after midseason trade from the Mariners to the Tigers. In 10 starts with Detroit, Fister went 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA, 0.839 WHIP and 57:5 K:BB ratio in 70.1 innings. He'll never be mistaken for overpowering, but Fister is able to keep hitters off balance by mixing four quality pitches (low-90s fastball, slider, curve and changeup) with pinpoint control. His .261 BABIP against after joining the Tigers hints at some luck, but a 2.75 xFIP shows Fister's success with Detroit was somewhat sustainable. Fister might not be able to continue striking out hitters at the increased rate we saw with the Tigers last season, but his low walk rate (1.54 B/9IP) and ability to induce groundballs will help him post good peripherals and pick up wins while pitching for a team that actually gives him offensive support.

Fister is a control artist (1.68 BB/9IP last season) who pitches to contact and therefore always needs some good defense and a bit of luck. He posted a 2.45 ERA in the season's first two months last year, but after a June DL stint, posted a 5.24 ERA the rest of the way. He was the same pitcher in both circumstances, though. The difference was his .236 BABIP in the first two months ballooned to .345 in the second half. In a perfect world, he's a No. 5 starter. In the Mariners' world, he could be the No. 2 starter depending on how the offseason works out.

Fister filled in admirably when the Seattle rotation needed assistance late in 2009, but he's not a top prospect and nothing more than a fifth starter. As a non-strikeout pitcher, Fister lives on stellar control (0.96 BB/9IP in the minors). Throw out his four-walk aberration in his first start and he clocked in with a 1.76 BB/9IP for the Mariners. He also needs some luck as an extreme strike-throwing, put-the-ball-in-play pitcher, which his .277 BABIP certainly provided last season. He could compete for the fifth spot in the rotation this year but will probably start the year back at Triple-A absent landing a bullpen spot in spring training.