Player Review: Anthony DeSclafani

Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images2023 stats: 19 G (18 GS), 99.2 IP, 4.88 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 18.9% K%, 4.8% BB%, 1.0 fWAR

It’s a little strange to consider that Anthony DeSclafani represented a win above a replacement level player in 2023, right? Well, through the first two months of the season, he was actually the 31st-most valuable starting pitcher in Major League Baseball by FanGraphs’ Wins Above Replacement (1.2); and, if you want to make an 11-start stretch sound even more impressive, that value was good enough to place him 17th in the NL, well ahead of probable Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

I say all that not to make fun of DeSclafani by way of small sample size,…