40 Man Roster Review: Doug Fister

On the heels of an unexpected 86-win campaign, the Houston Astros are expected to build on that success in the 2016 season. While some fans would have liked the Astros to increase their payroll above the $100 million threshold, that is something they will have to endure just a while longer.

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The truth is that the club was still shopping in the bargain bin in the 2015-2016 offseason. Now this may not have been a terrible decision, because as of mid-February, the signing of Doug Fister appears to be a steal in the current market.

Doug Fister has been involved as, arguably, the key piece in two trades. One of those came in the 2011 season, where he was included in a six-player deal. Fister went from Seattle to Detroit in that swap. In December 2013, the Nationals acquired him for a pair of minor league pitchers and an utility infielder.

The 2015 season was probably Fister's worst in the major leagues. He pitched in just 103 innings. In that time his strikeout to walk ratio was just 2.63 to 1 and he allowed 10.5 hits per nine innings. Some of his struggles can be attributed to a forearm strain that cost him the majority of the season.

Brooks Baseball credits Fister with six pitches. Take that with a grain of salt, however, as Fister is primarily a sinker-baller. In 2015 his usage of the sinker was in excess of 60% in each month. Obviously, there is a significant drop-off in % usage for his other pitches, with a slider and curveball receiving most of the remaining use.

Throughout his career, Fister has posted a 48.8% ground ball rate. That makes since given his use of a sinker. The 44.6% mark posted in 2015 is a cause for concern, which helps explain why Fister had a seemingly low value in free agency.

One final thing of note is his height. At 6'8", Fister is now the tallest member of the Houston Astros. I cannot help but think about Chris Young (Royals) and how he shut the Astros down in relief during the American League Division Series. A fellow Astro, Scott Feldman, is also among the more vertically successful pitchers in Major League Baseball. It seems that although these pitchers are not gifted with velocity, they are able to be average to above-average pitchers with ease, at least in terms of earned run average.

With this in mind, I am confident that Doug Fister will be a steady component of the Astros rotation this season. After all, his 7-year career in the major leagues suggests he can be very good (1.79 ERA in 70 1/3 innings w/ DET in 2011) or at least a quality arm in a contending rotation (3.42 career ERA).