Virgo 2021 Pitchers
I tried to limit my 2021 recaps to one post per sign, but I found that I had so much to say about Virgo batters that I should probably split the offense and pitching into two separate posts. So here’s an in-depth look at the players who contributed to Virgo’s pitching staff in the 2021 season.
You can head over to the Gallery section for a look at Virgo’s rotation based purely on full-season fantasy points, but here I’ll go in order of how I would stack the starters for a hypothetical offseason astrology-based tournament. It seems like a no-brainer to have Gerrit Cole start Game 1, based not just on his electric stuff, but also his pedigree as a big game pitcher (the 2021 Wild Card Game notwithstanding). In fact, I would bump Virgo’s pitching points leader Adam Wainwright down to Game 3, based on the performance of Rays ace Tyler Glasnow before his season ended prematurely due to injury. A healthy Sandy Alcantara would be in line to start Game 4, with the rest of the starters moving to the bullpen.
If you look at the above list and ask “What other starters?” that would be a legitimate question. Injuries hit the Virgo starting rotation harder than perhaps any other sign in 2021. Beyond Glasnow, Virgo also lost 2021 no-hitter author Spencer Turnbull, one time Dodgers top prospect Dustin May, and THREE different St. Louis Cardinals: Carlos Martinez, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson. But perhaps the biggest name (and the biggest fastball) to be lost for basically all of 2021 is Noah Syndergaard, who pitched only two innings in the last two seasons combined.
That’s not to say there aren’t any reinforcements on the horizon. Reds rookie Vladimir Gutierrez turned in a nice performance after being called up in late May. Justin Dunn and David Peterson should have promising careers ahead of them for the Mariners and Mets, respectively. The Pirates had swingman Chad Kuhl, rookie Wil Crowe, and journeyman Dillon Peters. Jose Urena ate up some innings for the Tigers. And Chris Ellis had a handful of good starts between the Rays and the Orioles.
Moving to the bullpen, the only dedicated Virgo reliever to break 1,000 fantasy points was yet another Cardinal Alex Reyes. His full-season numbers look a lot better than they actually were, since he got out to a huge start, but then struggled so badly that he lost the closer’s job in St. Louis. James Karinchak split Cleveland’s closer duties for most of the season, before losing the spot to Pisces rookie Emmanuel Clase. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Kyle Finnegan didn’t become the ninth inning specialist for the Nationals until the end of July.
Two Brewers pitchers had good fantasy seasons (for relievers) despite not picking up regular saves: Devin Williams got his points with strikeouts (87 K’s in 58 games), while Brent Suter got his by racking up innings (73 IP in 61 games). Four more Virgo relievers made some noise in the playoffs, despite having forgettable regular season numbers: Luke Jackson and A.J. Minter for the Braves, lefty specialist Aaron Bummer for the White Sox, and hard-throwing Brusdar Graterol for the Dodgers.
I try to keep a separate category for primary relief pitchers who also made a significant amount of starts, so here they are. Ranger Suarez made a very successful jump from the Phillies bullpen to their rotation down the stretch. Veteran David Price is on the Dodgers mostly to offset the salary that changed hands in the Mookie Betts trade. Young Rangers lefty Taylor Hearn has been a starter for most of his career in the minors, but he has more relief appearances than starts in his MLB career so far. It’s also worth mentioning Jacob Junis, who has been almost exclusively a starter for the Royals prior to 2021.
Looking WAY down the list of 2021 Virgos, we see some of relief pitchers who had a lot of success in their primes. Wade Davis was a force for the mid-2010’s Royals, and he’s resurfaced with his old team. Former Marlins/Mets closer AJ Ramos had a few games with the Angels in 2021. You might remember Will Harris from the 2017 and 2019 World Serieses with the Astros. But hard throwing Jordan Hicks is the best bet to return to dominance, as his 2021 was abbreviated due to injury rather than the slow march of time.
Next time, in a special Sunday post, I’m looking at the link between Scorpio (the current sign) and the Tarot. But after that, we’ll get a look at the batters who contributed to Libra, the top team in the Positive Polarity!