2024 Astrology Pitchers - First Impressions
They say “pitching wins championships.” So how does it make sense that Gemini, which has the top scoring pitching staff, would be dead last in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League standings? Maybe because they had the absolute worst offense, by a large margin. They also say “moderation in all things.”
The next two signs in fantasy points for pitchers were also division winners - Scorpio and Virgo, respectively. Coincidentally, these two signs also occupied the second and third slots for batters… but with their positions reversed. Is it any wonder that the Stingers and the Flowers were neck and neck for top overall sign?
Presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal leads the Scorpio staff. The breakout of Royals offseason signee Seth Lugo makes Scorpio the ONLY sign with a pair of 2,000-point scoring starting pitchers. Framber Valdez came painfully close to giving the Stingers three such starters, and with Sonny Gray and the injury-plagued Grayson Rodriguez, Scorpio does have five pitchers who averaged more than 60 points -per-game.
Scorpio’s weakness was relief pitching, where they didn’t have a single pitcher to break 20 points per game. Interestingly, all three of their top relievers pitched for playoff teams in 2024, but none of their teams made it out of the division series round, with closer Jason Foley completely losing the trust of Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
By contrast, no sign relied more heavily on their bullpen than Aries, outside of presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, of course. Kirby Yates had an incredible bounceback season as the Rangers closer (despite the defending World Series champs missing the playoffs). Josh Hader picked up where he left off upon signing with Houston. Clay Holmes served as the Yankees closer for most of the year, before being dropped down to the “get out of trouble” spot in the playoffs. And Edwin Diaz picked up saves for the Mets in his return from a fluke World Baseball Classic injury that cost him all of 2023.
Gemini ace Paul Skenes is obviously the top rookie of the 2024 season, but Virgo had two first-years in prominent positions. Shota Imanaga, eight-year veteran of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, was the only Virgo pitcher to reach 2,000 points. Although it’s worth noting that Bryce Miller of the Mariners came within 12 (twelve) points of that plateau… and were it not for injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Gerrit Cole, it’s quite possible there could have been four 2,000-pointers for Virgo. Mason Miller will likely win the AL Rookie of the Year award for his amazing season as the A’s closer.