Sleeper of the Week

Livan Hernandez suffered through a rough June, giving up four earned runs or more four times in a five-game stretch. His era rose from 3.41 to 4.19 and, once again, most fantasy owners gave up on the former World Series MVP. His performance in July, however, makes him worth another look.

In his last four starts, Hernandez recorded three wins, including two complete games, along with an era of 1.89, a whip just under 1.00, and 30 strikeouts. Pretty solid numbers for a player who spent that time on the waiver wire in many leagues…

Unfortunately, we can’t count on Hernandez to keep playing at that level. In fact, we can’t count on anything (except k’s) when it comes to Hernandez; few pitchers of his talent are so frustratingly inconsistent. Still, we feel better about him this season than we have for some time, thanks largely to his improved k/bb ratio of 2.66 (93/34 in 136.1 innings of work). The pitchers closest to that mark are Randy Wolf (2.71) and Mark Mulder (2.62), putting Hernandez in elite company. Control has always been a key to Hernandez’ success; the last time he posted a k/bb ratio over 2.00 in a season, he won 17 games.

If you’re looking for consistency, look elsewhere. If your roster is already solid and you’re on top of the standings, stand pat. But if you need to take a gamble or two to gain ground, or you’re simply looking for a boost in the strikeouts category, give Hernandez a shot if he happens to be available.