Josh Collmenter

Arizona's 2015 Opening Day starter, Collmenter quickly relinquished his role in the starting rotation, but found success in the bullpen, posting a 2.03 ERA after his move to the pen in the middle of June. He will most likely contribute as a bullpen member again in 2016.

Collmenter's versatility is often more useful to the Diamondbacks than it is to fantasy players, but owners in head-to-head formats no doubt found value in his 3.46 ERA over 179 innings since they were able to slot him into a relief spot. Unfortunately, his strikeout rate tumbled back to 16.0%, which ate a bunch of his value in other league formats since a mid-3.00s ERA isn't exactly a rare animal these days. Last season was essentially a carbon copy of his 2011 rookie year so we have those two seasons representing his upside. While he has never posted an ERA higher than 3.69, his downside is still something a good bit higher than that, especially if he’s a full-time starter. The Diamondbacks have him penciled in for a rotation spot again to begin 2015, but his ability to easily shift into the bullpen means he would be among the first candidates to move when Patrick Corbin is ready to return from injury or if Archie Bradley is deemed ready in the minors.

Collmenter excelled in a long relief role in 2013, posting a 3.13 ERA in 92 innings. He showed just how valuable he can be out of the bullpen and Arizona was hesitant to give him a single start. Because of that, he doesn't figure to be a candidate to make the rotation over some of the Diamondbacks' prospects this season, but Collmenter offers versatility thanks to his ability to capably take the ball for spot-start duty when injuries create a need in the rotation on short notice. Further, his lack of an overpowering arsenal seems to fit better going through the batting order once as a long reliever, as multiple looks often enable opposing hitters to solve his unorthodox delivery.

Collmenter opened the season as a member of the D-Backs' rotation, but a four-start shelling in April (9.82 ERA, .965 OPS allowed) led to a quick move to the bullpen and long relief duty. Around his time in the bullpen, Collmenter made a handful of successful starts, but his unorthodox delivery seems to play better in two or three-inning outings when hitters only get an at-bat or two against him, as his ERA out of the bullpen (1.32) was nearly four runs lower than his mark over 11 starts (5.11). Further, Collmenter's lack of a steady third offering (he uses a curveball sparingly) forces heavy reliance on his 86-89 mph fastball, a pitch that opposing hitters slugged .533 against in 2012. With the depth of young pitching talent on the D-Backs' organizational depth chart, long relief seems to be his role for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to a revolving door in the back of the Arizona rotation, Collmenter was given a shot to start for the D-Backs in May after getting a call to work out of the bullpen in April. Boasting an unorthodox over-the-top delivery attributed to time spent throwing tomahawks as a child, Collmenter's less than impressive arsenal seems to work against big league hitters because of deception. Long term, he'll probably get squeezed out of the rotation when the D-Backs' prospects are ready to assume rotation spots, but Collmenter's low walk rate should make him a viable option in long relief once that happens. If Collmenter opens 2012 with a starting assignment, tread carefully here as he's very dependent on two pitches and will be prone to big innings as teams get a second and third look at him in the middle innings.

There's a very large gap between the upper-level arms in the D-Backs' system and the wave of young pitchers with higher ceilings at the lower levels. Collmenter is intriguing, because his success depends much more on a deceptive over-the-top delivery than pure stuff. He pitched at three levels last season before an impressive stint in the Arizona Fall League. As his tumbling strikeout rate at Triple-A Reno (6.1 K/9IP) suggests, Collmenter's skill set may be best utilized in the bullpen at the big league level, making him more valuable to the D-Backs than to rotisserie players given the low likelihood of a high-leverage opportunity.