Sleeper Watch

There was only one possible choice for the Cafe’s Thanksgiving weekend sleeper: Royals pitcher Jimmy Gobble.

But all cheap jokes aside, Gobble is well worth keeping in mind for the 2004 season. Not only does he still have all the skills that made him an intriguing minor league sleeper choice prior to last season, but the young left-hander may well be undervalued in next spring’s drafts.

Gobble has never received the attention he deserved, and now that Zack Greinke is on the scene in the Royals’ system, that isn’t likely to change. Additionally, Gobble had an up-and-down rookie campaign last season, pitching brilliantly at times (for instance by allowing just one run in consecutive wins over Tampa Bay), but struggling at others (particularly in a dismal three-game stretch to close out August). His final stats weren’t terribly impressive (4-5, 4.61 era, 1.35 whip), but keep in mind that Gobble only turned twenty-two this year and had been called up directly from AA Wichita. And while he wasn’t able to transfer his 3.19 minor league era to the big show, his k/bb ratio of just over 2-to-1 remained constant. That’s a very promising sign indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving!