Josh Fleming

Josh Fleming

27-Year-Old PitcherRP
Pittsburgh Pirates
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Fleming made 12 appearances for the Rays in 2023, each lasting at least three innings even though only three technically counted as starts. Just one of those outings came in the second half, as elbow issues cost him more than two months. He returned for a single appearance in mid-August before being optioned, never to return. He was designated for assignment after the season, claimed by the Phillies, and then non-tendered. Fleming's numbers make it hard to see him as a lock for a rotation role wherever he winds up, as his 4.70 ERA was an exact match for his SIERA. Fleming is an expert at keeping the ball on the ground, with a 59.7% groundball rate last season and a career mark of 59.0%, and he doesn't have a control problem, but he simply can't miss bats. His 11.3% strikeout rate was the lowest among all pitchers who threw at least 50 innings in any of the last five seasons. That hurts Fleming's fantasy value directly in leagues which count strikeouts, and even in leagues which don't, it means he has to rely on his defense to a potentially uncomfortable extent. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
$Signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Pirates in February of 2024.
Three-inning save Friday
PPittsburgh Pirates
March 30, 2024
Fleming gave up one run on two hits and a walk over three relief innings Friday to record his first save of the season in a 7-2 win over the Marlins. He struck out three.
ANALYSIS
The 27-year-old southpaw entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Pirates ahead by four runs already, and he never gave manager Derek Shelton a reason to turn to another pitcher. Fleming tossed 58 pitches (33 strikes) in the appearance and likely won't be available for a few days, which could prompt Pittsburgh to option him to Triple-A Indianapolis in favor of a fresh arm. The save was the second of his career, and his first back in 2021 for the Rays was also of the three-inning variety, so he's not a late-inning option for the Pirates.
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Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
19
Last 10 Games
19
Last 5 Games
15
How many pitches does Josh Fleming generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Josh Fleming generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-31%
BAA vs LHP
2024
 
 
-25%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-38%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-28%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2022vs Left .230 118 32 5 26 7 0 2
Since 2022vs Right .332 305 28 29 90 16 1 12
2024vs Left .167 14 4 2 2 0 0 0
2024vs Right .222 19 2 1 4 0 0 0
2023vs Left .191 49 13 2 9 3 0 2
2023vs Right .309 172 12 17 47 5 1 7
2022vs Left .278 55 15 1 15 4 0 0
2022vs Right .386 114 14 11 39 11 0 5
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
 
 
-16%
ERA on Road
2024
 
 
-100%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-23%
ERA on Road
2022
 
 
-15%
ERA on Road
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2022Home 5.54 1.63 50.1 4 3 0 5.7 3.4 1.6
Since 2022Away 4.63 1.52 44.2 1 2 1 5.6 3.0 1.0
2024Home 0.00 1.80 1.2 1 0 0 0.0 5.4 0.0
2024Away 2.70 0.90 6.2 0 0 1 8.1 2.7 0.0
2023Home 5.13 1.41 33.1 2 0 0 4.1 3.0 2.2
2023Away 3.93 1.53 18.1 0 0 0 4.9 3.9 0.5
2022Home 7.04 2.09 15.1 1 3 0 10.0 4.1 0.6
2022Away 5.95 1.73 19.2 1 2 0 5.5 2.3 1.8
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Stat Review
How does Josh Fleming compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
2.00
 
K/9
6.5
 
BB/9
3.2
 
HR/9
0.0
 
Fastball
90.0 mph
 
ERA
2.16
 
WHIP
1.08
 
BABIP
.255
 
GB/FB
4.50
 
Left On Base
66.7%
 
Swinging Strike
11.9%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Josh Fleming See More
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325 days ago
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331 days ago
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332 days ago
Todd Zola welcomes back several key hurlers into his weekly pitcher rankings.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
Fleming is the type of pitcher who may have found success in the 70's or 80's when the game of baseball was littered by soft-tossing lefties who moved the ball all around the zone and pitched to contact. The modern game of baseball is all about velocity, and he has very little of it. Fleming throws nothing straight, and mostly hopes that what he does throw does not get lost over the middle of the plate on its slow journey toward home plate. While he did win 15 games in his first two seasons in the league, that was more due to his usage as a bulk guy behind an opener than any starting pitching prowess. He has a career 5.77 ERA as a starter and a 3.92 ERA as a reliever. Every team needs to have some depth arms to use when a rash of injuries hits the regular staff, and Fleming fits that role. That said, he has almost no fantasy viability outside of very deep AL-Only leagues.
Fleming doesn't have great velocity (91.2 mph average fastball last season) or strikeout rates (5.6 K/9) but has outstanding control (2.1 BB/9) and ground-ball rates (55.7%). He'll likely work multiple roles in the bullpen and as an occasional opener.
Fleming forced his way into the Rays' pitching plans after yielding just two runs over 10.1 innings in a pair of late-August starts. His next two appearances weren't quite as impressive, but the southpaw rebounded to close out the season yielding just one run over his final 12.2 frames. Overall, Fleming posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.08 WHIP along with a 5-0 record across seven outings. His 4.40 FIP implies some good fortune, but it was nonetheless a strong rookie campaign following a relatively successful three-year run through the minor leagues. Fleming isn't going to strike out many batters -- his paltry 19.2 K% last season was actually better than what he had posted in the minors -- but he offers excellent control (5.6 BB%) and induced the highest groundball rate (63.5%) among MLB hurlers who threw at least 30 innings. Fleming's skillset isn't that of an ace, but he could stick as a mid-rotation starter.
More Fantasy News
Signs one-year deal with Pittsburgh
PPittsburgh Pirates
February 14, 2024
Fleming signed a one-year, split contract with the Pirates on Wednesday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
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Non-tendered after waiver claim
PFree Agent
November 17, 2023
Fleming was non-tendered by the Phillies on Friday, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
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Catches on with Philadelphia
PPhiladelphia Phillies
November 6, 2023
The Phillies claimed Fleming off waivers from the Rays on Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
ANALYSIS
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Removed from 40-man
PTampa Bay Rays
November 4, 2023
The Rays placed Fleming on outright waivers Saturday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
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Optioned to Durham
PTampa Bay Rays
August 13, 2023
The Rays optioned Fleming to Triple-A Durham on Sunday.
ANALYSIS
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