Justin Masterson

39-Year-Old PitcherP

Free Agent

2024 Stats

W-L

0-0

ERA

0.00

WHIP

0.00

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2024 Fantasy Outlook

There was no outlook written for Justin Masterson in 2024. Check out the latest news below for more on his current fantasy value.

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man No

Height 6'6"

Weight 235

DOB 3/22/1985

Drafted 2nd Rd 2006

Ends playing career

PFree Agent

December 11, 2018

Masterson's agent, Randy Rowley, revealed Monday that his client has retired from professional baseball, Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Masterson intends to turn his focus to missionary work after a big-league career that spanned eight seasons and featured stops in Boston, Cleveland and St. Louis. The soft-tossing right-hander, who went 64-74 with a 4.31 ERA across 258 games, most recently appeared in affiliated ball in 2017 as a member of the Dodgers' Triple-A squad.

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

Masterson joined St. Louis just before the trade deadline as the Cardinals attempted to bolster their beat up rotation for the stretch run. The right-hander was less than impressive (to put it nicely), starting six games before being relegated to the bullpen. For the Cardinals, he posted a 7.05 ERA in 30.2 innings, not a great run with free agency looming. Overall, he finished the season with a 5.88 ERA but a far more respectable 4.08 xFIP, indicating he was better than his ERA for most of the year, and he also battled a knee injury while with Cleveland. Masterson will turn 30 just prior to the 2015 season and his ugly 2014 should suppress is value to the point that he may become a bargain in many drafts. The Red Sox brought him in December, likely with the hope that he can provide quality innings toward the middle of the rotation.

Masterson set a career high in wins (14), WHIP (1.20) and strikeouts (195) before sustaining an oblique injury in September. He still struggles with his control at times, but does a good enough job of keeping the ball in the park and missing bats to limit the damage, thanks in large part to his heavy two-seam fastball. One major factor in Masterson's success last season came from improvement against left-handed hitters, as he was able to neutralize them with a heavier dose of sliders. The results were significantly better, as he held lefties to a combined .248/.340/.357 line compared to a .296/.376/.450 line in 2012. He'll be back as the team's top starter with the departure of Ubaldo Jimenez, and should continue to log a heavy volume of innings while providing plenty of strikeouts.

Masterson was unable to hold onto the command gains he made in 2011 and saw his ERA and WHIP suffer as a result. He posted a career high in strikeouts (159) and made a league-leading 34 starts, but it was certainly a step back after he appeared to be putting it all together in the second half of 2011. He'll be back at the top of the Indians' rotation, but is miscast as an ace and will need to improve his control in order to push his ERA closer to the better xFIP marks he's delivered over the last three seasons.

Masterson built upon a strong second half from 2011 and enjoyed what was easily his best season to date. He faded a bit over his last dozen starts after a stretch of dominance in July as the career-high workload might have begun to take its toll. His strikeout rate has decreased in each of the last four seasons, but he's also showed great improvement in his control during that stretch and a 6.58 K/9IP rate is still solid given his high groundball rate (55 percent of batted balls). Masterson had surgery on the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in October, but is expected to be 100 percent for spring training. He'll be back as the team's No. 2 starter behind Ubaldo Jimenez and should be able to repeat his success of a year ago if he maintains the improved control.

Masterson had another disappointing season for the Tribe even though his control improved a bit (3.7 BB/9IP). It's still a concern and while the strikeout total is nice it's tough to swallow the WHIP and ERA damage. He did get better as the season wore on (1.320 WHIP, 3.84 ERA in the second half) and was dominant in seven September appearances (2.14 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, 19:2 K:BB in 21 innings as the team limited his workload) and he'll be back as the team's No. 2 starter.

Masterson won just one of his 10 starts since coming over to the Indians in the Victor Martinez trade, posting a 1.587 WHIP and a 4.55 ERA. He'll need to work on his command (4.1 BB/9IP and a 1.87 K/BB career ratio in 217.2 major league innings) if he's going to take the next step but did manage to whiff 119 batters in 129.1 innings last season. He'll be counted on to hold down a spot at the top of the Indians' rotation in 2010.

What to do with Masterson? He was a starting pitcher in the minors, but was needed to pitch out of the bullpen for Boston in the second half of the season. He was less effective when pitching out of the stretch and walked too many batters. He'll have to improve in those areas if he's going to remain as part of the set-up crew. If they use him as a starter, he'll need to work on being consistent in his delivery for longer stretches.

Masterson was converted to a starter in 2007, after a successful stint as a reliever for Short Season Lowell in 2006. His out pitch is the sinker, and he's got good command of the zone, so there's hope that Masterson could still develop at least as a reliever. Masterson made big news because of his involvement in the Johan Santana trade talks. In the smaller market, Masterson's path to the majors might be quicker than with Boston. But either way, he could use more time at Double-A to develop his secondary pitches.

More Fantasy News

Signs minor league deal with Dodgers

PLos Angeles Dodgers

March 27, 2017

Masterson has signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.