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2023 Player Outlook

Sims was popular in fantasy baseball drafts heading into 2022, as he was coming off a year where he notched seven saves with a 4.40 ERA (2.47 xERA, 3.00 FIP) and an eye-popping 39 percent strikeout rate. Well, in 2022, he logged just 6.2 innings, as back (and elbow) pain derailed his season. His fastball velocity was down, his pitches didn’t have the same bite, and he just didn’t look right. He underwent surgery last summer to hopefully fix the back issue, and hopefully doing so will also alleviate some recurring elbow issues that have popped up for him in recent years. When healthy, he’s a legitimate candidate for ninth-inning work, though that job firmly belongs to Alexis Diaz to begin the year. Sims’ slider and curveball can miss bats, and he can post elite strikeout numbers when healthy. Sims won’t be drafted outside of the deepest of NL-only setups, but he’s a name to watch early in the season to see if he can be an impact add off the waiver wire because one would assume if healthy, he’s the next man up for saves in Cincy.