Sleeper Watch

Ryan Dempster or LaTroy Hawkins? That was the big question in Chicago for much of the off-season. Fantasy owners were eager to get their hands on an affordable closer on draft day, and Cubs fans were looking forward to stability in the bullpen for an entire season. Yet baseball is a funny game, and things don’t always turn out as expected…

After a strong 2003 campaign in which he earned 33 saves and posted a 1.05 WHIP, Joe Borowski couldn’t repeat that success in 2004. In 21.1 IP, the formerly reliable closer gave up 19 runs for an ERA of 8.02. His velocity was down, and as a result, his K/BB ratio dropped from 3.47 to a dismal 1.13. Something was clearly amiss.

It turned out that Borowski’s struggles could be traced to a torn rotator cuff. Following a June 4 loss to Pittsburgh, his third defeat in his final six appearances, he was shut down for the remainder of the season and relegated to the waiver wire in countless fantasy leagues.

Now, Borowski is back, not only just in Chicago’s bullpen, but – somewhat surprisingly – in the closer’s role as well. And now that he’s healthy again, he should be a very different pitcher from the reliever who was hammered so frequently last year. His four spring training appearances obviously aren’t nearly enough to evaluate his performance, but with a WHIP of 0.75, an ERA of 2.25, four strikeouts and just one walk in Cactus League action, it’s so far, so good.

If your league has already held its draft and Borowski hasn’t been snapped up off the waiver wire yet, grab him immediately. In upcoming drafts, look for him to be undervalued, especially by owners who had him on their rosters last year.