Andrew Heaney DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Andrew Heaney had a nice bounce-back outing on Thursday to help sweep the visiting Washington Nationals at PNC Park, tossing 7 1/3 scoreless innings with five hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts to win his first game of the season in a 1-0 ball game. It wasn't an eye-popping stat line when all was said and done, but Heaney induced a lot of weak contact and was efficient while throwing 95 pitches. The 33-year-old southpaw let up four earned runs in six innings in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds his last time out, but outside of that outing he's been strong in his first season in Pittsburgh. Heaney's strong effort on Thursday lowered his season ERA to 2.13 with 22 strikeouts and six walks in his first 25 1/3 innings pitched. While he shouldn't be counted on as a big strikeout guy, Heaney can continue to be a productive fantasy streamer in the right matchups.

Left-handed pitcher Andrew Heaney signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates worth $5 million. Heaney spent the 2024 campaign with the Texas Rangers. The southpaw logged 160 innings and held a 4.28 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He tallied 159 punchouts. He also showed solid command as he allowed walks at a 5.9 percent rate. However, he generated a 4.46 xERA and a .253 xBA, which suggests he may face some regression when he returns to the mound. During the 2023 campaign, Heaney posted a similar 4.15 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP across 147 1/3 innings. Fantasy managers should expect Heaney to compete for one of the final spots in the rotation. Heaney will likely provide rotational depth and could eventually shift to the bullpen. If he earns a spot in the rotation, he could have value as a streaming option in deeper formats in favorable matchups.

The Detroit Tigers have interest in starting pitchers who are candidates for one-year deals this offseason, which includes left-hander Andrew Heaney and right-hander Kyle Gibson. President of baseball operations Scott Harris tried to sign Heaney in November of 2021 when he was the general managers of the San Francisco Giants. In the last two seasons with the Texas Rangers, Heaney has posted a 4.22 ERA with 310 strikeouts over 307 1/3 frames. Another player Detroit could be watching is right-hander Michael Soroka, who had a 4.74 ERA with 84 K's and 44 walks over 79 2/3 innings in 25 games (nine starts) for the Chicago White Sox in 2024. In his final 11 games in relief, Soroka was stellar with a 1.84 ERA, 41 K's and only nine walks in 24 1/3 frames. Because free-agent right-hander Nick Pivetta would require forfeiting draft picks, the Tigers are unlikely to pursue him.