Chris Heston

This movie looks familiar. Ryan Vogelsong since 2011: 3.89 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, and 2.3 K/BB ratio in 793 IP. Heston as a major leaguer (mostly 2015 with a little 2014 thrown in): 3.98 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, and 2.2 K/BB ratio in 183 IP. Heston's volatility might not be as wide as Vogelsong's has been over the last few years, given that Heston is 10 years younger. Heston had a sharp spike in walks over the second half the season after giving no more than nine free passes in any of the first three months. His April-June walk rate was 6.6 percent; his mark thereafter was 11.8 percent. While he did get worse as the season wore on, his best month by ERA was July, so it's not as though he just went straight down after a strong start. Heston is the prototypical back-end innings-eater who has more real-life baseball value than fantasy baseball value. He keeps the ball down and has a great home ballpark so the best strategy is to stream him at home.

Heston tossed a career-high 173 innings at Triple-A Fresno in 2014, posting a 3.38 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and eventually earning a start in San Francisco in September when the Giants needed someone to chew up innings during the final week of the season. Throughout his development, Heston has been successful by limiting the damage of free passes, but there are questions as to how many bats he'll miss if he remains a starter in the big leagues. With a fastball that hovers around 90 mph as a starter, Heston utilizes three others pitches to retire opposing hitters, and he might prove more valuable as a reliever if he can't consistently induce weak contact against top-level bats. If he can continue to get lefties out, and induce a large share of his outs on the ground, Heston could be a No. 5 starter. The Giants have not said that he'll end up a reliever, but he'll likely begin 2015 back at Triple-A with the team's new affiliate in Sacramento.