Chad Kuhl

Kuhl returned from Tommy John surgery in 2020 and made 11 appearances (nine starts) for the Pirates during the shortened season. While his average fastball velocity hovered around 95 mph in each of his two seasons prior to surgery, it dipped to 93.9 mph in 2020. His 22.3 K% remained passable, but he also had a career-worst 14.2 BB% that would have been the worst by far among qualified pitchers. While he issued more free passes, potentially due to his increased slider usage, he only allowed a .235 BABIP last year. Unfortunately, a good portion of the balls that were put into play caused damage, as he posted a 19.0% HR/FB rate. The right-hander isn't guaranteed a spot in the rotation heading into 2021, but he could better learn how to perform well using his post-surgery skill set. Kuhl will need to work on his command to offer serviceable production, but he'll likely maintain below-average fantasy marks.

Kuhl didn't throw a pitch in 2019 as he spent the year recovering from Tommy John surgery. He underwent the procedure back in September of 2018, so a typical recovery timeline should have him ready to go by around the start of the regular season. Prior to his injury, Kuhl had made 61 big-league starts, posting a mediocre 4.37 ERA, good for a below-average 106 ERA-. His supporting stats also depict a pitcher who belongs at the major-league level but only as a backend starter. His career 20.4% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 41.0% groundball rate are all passable, but all are worse than average. The only thing that really makes him stand out from a large crop of generally forgettable pitchers is his fastball velocity, which sat at 95.4 mph in 2018, a number which would have ranked 10th among qualified starters last season. So far, however, he's yet to translate that into a good strikeout rate.

Kuhl underwent Tommy John surgery in September, wiping out his value in single-season leagues. The uncertainty that comes with recovering from such a serious surgery is enough to eliminate most of his appeal in dynasty formats as well, as he wasn't having much success prior to the injury. The 26-year-old was at least a moderately interesting pitcher when healthy, as his fastball sat north of 95 mph, suggesting upside if he could ever translate that velocity into a strikeout rate better than his unimpressive 20.4% career mark.

While Kuhl was able to tap into a significant amount of extra velocity in 2017, with his fastball clocking in at over 95 mph on average, the results were less than stellar. The velo boost did help Kuhl lift his strikeout rate by more than three percentage points (to 20.9 percent), but he gave all of that back with an even greater uptick in walks (from 6.6 percent to 10.6 percent). The right-hander allowed line drives (23.3 percent) and hard contact (36.1 percent) at a greater clip and lefties pummeled him for a .511 SLG and .376 wOBA. Kuhl finished strong with a sub-3.70 ERA in each of the final three months and he should have a rotation spot out of camp, but there's just not enough here to see Kuhl as more than a staff filler in mixed leagues. Expect only marginal improvement with the WHIP.

Kuhl started 2016 in the shadows of fellow Triple-A arms Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow but carved out his own niche by season's end. Primarily relying upon a sinking fastball (93.2 mph average) with heavy drop, Kuhl exceeded expectations and gave Pittsburgh one of its few reliable second-half starting options. He compiled a 4.20 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 50:32 K:BB in 14 starts (70.2 innings) after registering a 2.37 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 83.2 Triple-A innings. Kuhl doesn't blow hitters off the map, but few pitchers carry his feisty attitude. The innings-eater appears poised to begin 2017 in the big league rotation, and profiles long term as a No. 4 or No. 5 starter.