Fantasy baseball managers were well aware that Cleveland RHP James Karinchak had been struggling since the All-Star break, but still, his stunning demotion to Triple-A Columbus this past weekend was quite the jolt. After all, despite the 8.40 ERA over 15 rough innings since mid-July, Karinchak remains a top-40 relief pitcher both on the ESPN Player Rater and in points leagues, and he is presumably healthy. For the season, has seven wins and 11 saves. Only six relief pitchers boast more strikeouts.
Volatility reigns among relief pitchers yet again. Sure, right-hander Emmanuel Clase was handling all the save chances over the past month-plus, but there were reasons to keep Karinchak around in fantasy leagues. However, the fact he was one of the first 10 relievers chosen on draft day was not one of them. Now it is time to move on and one has to wonder what this means for his long-term future, since many of us viewed Karinchak as one of the top dynasty closers. Tristan H. Cockcroft's midseason dynasty rankings have Karinchak No. 8 among relievers -- and No. 161 overall!
