Junior Guerra

Guerra worked mainly as a starter over his first three seasons with the Brewers, but he pitched exclusively in relief in 2019. He more than got the job done out of the bullpen, slotting into a late-inning role and leading NL relievers in IP while tying his career high with nine wins. Despite all that the Brewers chose not to tender the 35-year-old Guerra a contract during the offseason, making him a free agent. Guerra's age and usage -- plus a 2019 FIP nearly a run higher than his ERA -- are causes for concern, but his fastball velocity ticked up as a reliever, he kept runners off the bases and he was more effective after the All-Star break (2.72 ERA) than before (4.18 ERA). It seems likely he will be viewed solely as a reliever on the market, so he could have trouble landing a role that gives him much fantasy value. However, he could still provide quality innings out of the bullpen wherever he ends up.

In 2018, Guerra set personal bests with 31 appearances, 26 starts and 141 innings. His 2019 role is still unclear, though he's likely to fill a similar swingman role with the lean to more work from the bullpen than last season. The totals would have been higher if not for a 10-day DL stint in July. The 34-year-old righty also set a career high with a 22.3 K%, fueled by adding a couple ticks of velocity across his fastball/splitter/sinker/slider mix. The past two seasons, Guerra has allowed an excess of baserunners, but for different reasons. In 2017, his .236 BABIP was mitigated by a 13.6 BB%, but last season, an unlucky .312 BABIP spoiled an improved 9.0 BB%. If Guerra can maintain the control gains while enjoying a hit rate correction, he could improve on last season's 4.90 ERA. It's not a chance to chase, but it does put Guerra on the radar in deeper formats, especially for the stretches he's in the Brewers' rotation.

Following a breakout rookie season as a 31-year-old in 2016, Guerra was tabbed as the Brewers' Opening Day starter to kick off the 2017 campaign. Things quickly went south from there, as he was injured while hitting and missed nearly two months of action. He held his own for a few starts after returning from the disabled list, but he had trouble finding the strike zone, was dropped from the rotation by the end of July and started just one more game for the Brewers very late in the year. Guerra's control and fastball velocity fell off significantly last season, but his success the year before will earn him a chance to secure a spot at the back end of the rotation during spring training. At age 32 without much of a track record, though, he is seemingly a long shot to come away with one of the five openings.

As a 31-year-old rookie, Guerra came out of nowhere to become Milwaukee's ace in 2016. Behind a fastball-slider-splitfinger combination, Guerra recorded a 2.81 ERA with exactly 100 strikeouts over 121.2 innings -- an innings limit imposed by the Brewers considering Guerra had spent most of his previous minor league campaigns in the bullpen. The big ticket for Guerra is the splitfinger, which drew whiffs nearly one in every five times he threw it and held opponents to just a .115 batting average against. Such success always feels precarious for a pitcher like Guerra, who was virtually unknown until his big 2016 season. But that splitter is for real, and while he may not be able to maintain a sub-3.00 ERA, Guerra's arsenal is good enough for him to remain a solid mid-rotation pitcher in 2017 and beyond.

After spending six seasons in independent leagues, Guerra got to pitch last year as a member of the White Sox organization. He moved through Double-A and Triple-A as a long reliever, and even got a taste of the major leagues in June. He got shelled in the majors, but his numbers in the minors were somewhat decent. His Triple-A ERA was only 3.39 and he reduced his WHIP to 1.16 while posting an excellent 11.3 K/9. He'll have to show that he can be effective against major league hitters, but he could see a shot in the big leagues with the Brewers bullpen being fairly young and fluid.