For the most part, I love the Japanese games that kick off the season. (To be fair, I’m not a fan of Oakland or Seattle, and it’s not my team that’s playing in the middle of the night.) It’s fun to get a sneak preview of real baseball and even more fun to have a game that comes on when you wake up in the morning, right? Yet it’s also somewhat disconcerting, because after you’ve seen the real thing and had stats that count appear in your fantasy lineup, we now have to go back and sit through another week of exhibition games before we can get down to business.

If you haven’t yet drafted or are still making decisions, here are three starting pitchers to keep an eye on.

As spring training heads into the home stretch, we’re starting to learn a bit more about starting pitchers who came into camp with question marks. Those questions can be related to any number of issues—we’ll be discussing guys who are trying to return from life-threatening injury, insubordination, and good-old fashioned sore arms—but in each case, only additional data will help us make the informed decision. Here’s a look at four pitchers and the absolute latest on their attempts to solidify their places in a big-league rotation…

Carlos Zambrano | SP | Miami Marlins
Mixed: $1 | NL-only: $4 | PECOTA SP Rank: 76 | SP ADP: 93

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With another week of camp under our belts, we’re beginning to see some data from Florida and Arizona. As always, the results themselves are all but meaningless, though the way in which they were achieved can sometimes bring up interesting discussion points. Here are four starting pitchers who may be intriguing for various reasons on Draft Day….

Chris Volstad | SP | Chicago Cubs
Mixed: $-9 | NL-only: $-1 | PECOTA SP Rank: 148 | SP ADP: 141

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Welcome to spring training, that wonderful time of the year when baseball fans in a far-too-connected world put a ridiculous amount of importance in the results of miniscule sample sizes against wildly varying levels of competition.

Speaking of which, let’s dive right into…

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It’s March 1 as you’re reading this, and that is noteworthy if only because we’re finally into a month where there’s going to be real, live Major League Baseball that counts—even if the Japan-based series between the M’s and A’s will take place in the middle of the night for most of us. With the season fast approaching, fantasy drafts are really starting to heat up. Here are some thoughts on four pitchers who may or may not be on your radar for various reasons…

Phil Hughes | SP | New York Yankees
Mixed: $3 | AL-only: $10 | PECOTA SP Rank: - | SP ADP: 67

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It’s a fun time of year, isn’t it? Pitchers and catchers have reported to camps across Arizona and Florida, Frank McCourt is set to be exiled on a rocket into the sun—from what I understand—and fantasy drafts are really starting to get moving. Remember, it’s fun to look for the big trade as the deadline approaches over the summer, but the overwhelming majority of leagues are won and lost now, when keepers are decided upon and draft strategies are solidified. Here’s a look at four starting pitchers who may not be first round picks but should be on your mind when draft day arrives. As always, feel free to suggest others in the comments.

Scott Baker | SP | Minnesota Twins
Mixed: $3 | AL-only: $8 | PECOTA Rank: 55 | ADP: 212
PECOTA Projections:

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Baseball Prospectus Fantasy 2012 is GO. With PECOTA and the PFM now available for public consumption, we’re back for another season of fantasy analysis. Today, I follow the first two Mikes by kicking off my portion of the preseason series with a look at a few starting pitchers who may be undervalued in early drafts, plus a check in on the health of one of the most promising young starters in the game.

Roy Oswalt | SP | Free Agent
Mixed: $- | AL/NL-only: $- | PECOTA Rank: -- | ADP: 71^st SP
PECOTA Projections:

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It’s just three weeks until camps open (finally, a reason to get out of bed in the morning!), and we still don’t know where Edwin Jackson or Roy Oswalt are going to end up. I can understand Oswalt because he’s coming off back woes and is known to be very particular about where in the country he pitches, but who did Jackson tick off? Clearly he’s not getting the long-term deal he’d hoped for—and who can blame him after how often he’s moved—but someone’s going to end up with a solid pitcher for what could be a pretty decent deal.

Johnny Cueto | Cincinnati Reds
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
NL-only: YES
Super Deep: YES

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Another week, another round of starting pitchers to discuss in the Keeper Reaper…

Ervin Santana | Los Angeles Angels
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: NO
Super Deep: BORDERLINE

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I was looking at the list of available free agent starters today, and man, is it barren out there if you're still hunting for starters. Other than Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson, your best bet is… Zach Duke? Jeff Francis? Kevin Millwood? It's like the Island of Misfit Toys out there. Let's get started on this week's Reaper with two user requests, and as always, I'm happy to take other suggestions in the comments.

Matt Harrison | Texas Rangers
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
AL-only: NO
Super Deep: BORDERLINE

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As I fight off the temptation to discuss whether Jack Morris is a keeper in shallow leagues…

Paul Maholm | Chicago Cubs
Shallow: NO
Medium: NO
Deep: NO
NL-only: NO
Super Deep: NO 

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As I write this, my Twitter feed is flying with rumors that Carlos Zambrano may finally be on his way from Chicago to Miami. We’ll see if that ends up happening and what the on-the-field implications might be, but from a pure entertainment angle, I don’t see how you can root against this. This is the same Marlins club that was so stodgy they sent down Logan Morrison because he’s a pain in the behind on Twitter; now they might add the notoriously mouthy Zambrano to a mix that now includes Ozzie Guillen? Bring it on.

As for the Reaper, reader requests are always welcome, and I just wanted to clarify one question I saw in the comments in recent weeks; this column is about keeper decisions. For many of these pitchers, I’d love to have them on my team, but in shallower leagues keeper spots are so slim that if you’re not an elite performer, it’s likely not going to be enough to get kept. In other cases, you could be excellent but due to other circumstances—lack of name recognition, injury concerns—it could make sense strategically to not keep the player and attempt to buy low on them. There are so many different permutations of leagues with different rules out there that each decision needs to be individually made to suit your situation.

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