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Fantasy Baseball: Who’s Hungry?

June 4, 2010 at 9:00 am | Fantasy Baseball
By: The Bad Guy

The Bad Guy is here to take a look at two rookie SPs who have been tremendous so far in 2010. These guys probably weren’t drafted in your leagues, and it therefore might be difficult to gauge their actual value.

John Ely SP Dodgers -When Vicente Padilla went down with an injury back in April, the Dodgers called upon unsung prospect John Ely to take his spot in the rotation. Despite a 14-2 record in 2008 with AA Birmingham (Yes, that’s the White Sox AA affiliate - Ely was traded to LA in the Juan Pierre deal), there was never much talk surrounding the Chicago native due to his less than stellar strikeout numbers. He struggled in his first major league start against the Mets at Citi Field, allowing 3 BB and 5 ER in 6 IP. Since his debut however, he has simply been lights out. He has not allowed more than 2 ER in any of his six starts, owns a 3-1 record with a 33-5 K:BB ratio in 40 innings, with his only loss coming in a 1-0 game against the Cubs at Wrigley. The only negative is that his BABIP currently sits at .267 on the season, and that should eventually creep up towards the league average of about .300. Ely doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but if he can keep his BB/9 IP below two he should be fine the rest of the way. Playing in the NL West against the offensively impaired Padres, Giants, and Diamondbacks certainly helps his cause, and it’s reasonable to project the rookie for around 12 wins in 2010.

Jaime Garcia SP Cardinals – After missing the entire 2009 season following Tommy John Surgery, this former highly regarded prospect has been dominating big league hitters all year. Garcia has yet to allow more than 2 ER in any of his 10 starts and with a 5-2 record, has to be the front runner for NL rookie of the year. Of the 35 fly balls he has allowed this season, only one has flown over the fence, an amazing feat when you take into account that he has already thrown 61.1 IP. While that ratio is almost impossible to maintain, Garcia has been able to get by by posting the third best ground ball/fly ball ratio in the majors. The only problem is that he has also been allowing nearly 4BB/9 IP, and while his strikeout numbers are better than average, he won’t be able to keep his WHIP at 1.19 unless he is able to pinpoint his control. Garcia’s ERA currently stands at 1.32 and it’s only a matter of time before we see a significant jump. It has also been noted that due to his injury history, the Cardinals might want to impose an innings limit on Garcia, and that makes this as good a time as any to try and maximize his value.