Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Guy's,

I am playing in Yankee stadium and have Blyleven. I have looked at other teams that have used Blyleven and he alway's seems to be a .500 pitcher.

Has anyone had success with him and is he a good fit in Yankee Stadium?

Yankee stadium is a 'middle' park. It really isnt a bad fit for anyone. It is a good park to play in when you are learning the game. I think some 'vets' have suggested playing in middle parks is easier to learn. I agree with that.
Blyleven never has a bad WHIP. He can give up some HRs. I have him on a team right now. He is 15-6 for me. Not a bad guy to start a rotation with.

I would keep Blyleven if you have him.

He is hard to draft and can be a real stud. He's had a couple of monster seasons for me: 22-10 with 2.69 ERA and 21-11 with 2.99 ERA--the first in Yankee, 2nd in Royals. He can also give you 300 IP. I've seen him post similar numbers on other teams.

On the other hand, I've also seen him get hammered right out of the league. You can never tell with pitchers--sometimes you get a bad year or just a lot of bad rolls. But if you have him, I'd definitely give him a try. I think he's one of the best pitchers in the 80's game.

I have had Bert on three of my five teams.

He was 19-13 with a 3.08 ERA on an Oakland team that went to the finals.

The second go-round, he gave up HRs like crazy in Commisky and I dropped him right before the 42 game limit. Can't recall his numbers but they weren't good.

I've got him again in Oakland. Sixty games in he is 8-4 with a 3.10 ERA.

Am I happy with that performance over 2+ seasons? You bet.

I still feel like a relative noob but my own two cents is that it's pretty rare (though not impossible) to see a pitcher--even a really fine, high-priced pitcher--dominate in this league. All of the great hitters available in a 12-team league and the salary cap doesn't make life easy on any starter.

So, to answer your question (at last)--I'd keep him and give him a real fair chance before dropping him.