I've been seeing projections and rankings of SPs and I can't help but realize that Harden is ranked pretty high. He has had durability issues his first 2 years in the bigs and his numbers are not extraordinary.
I see Harden grouped together with pitchers like Zambrano, Prior, Halladay, Randy, Sheets, etc. I personally would rather grab a safer #1 or #2 starter rather than Harden.
Is he over-rated?
Why is he way up in the rankings with being fairly unproven in the big leagues?
I do agree that he is def a risk in terms of injury. But in terms of stats, I don't think he is overrated in any way (I watched 3 of his games last season as well on TV...he can flat out pitch and understands situations very well). His home and away stats are nearly identical...and with a 1.06 WHIP and ~1K/inning, it draws your attention. I think you take the risk of injury with him in the hopes he will put together a complete season...cause if he does
I don't think he's being overrated at all. I expect good things from Harden this year, and in the future. Out of the pitchers that you named I put him smack in the middle:
He apparently has amazing 'stuff' that warrants putting him up that high. This doesn't show up in the numbers that much but is worth something.
I agree that the other guys look better but, he's likely to be the last of that bunch off the board so, if you take bats instead of SP, he might be a decent 'damaged goods' option if, of course, he's recovered fully.
I'd take CZam or Prior or Unit before him though as Harden did not get me quite as many K as I'd hoped last year and prefer SP w/ bunches of K to help w/ that cat.
AcidRock23 wrote:He apparently has amazing 'stuff' that warrants putting him up that high. This doesn't show up in the numbers that much but is worth something.
I agree that the other guys look better but, he's likely to be the last of that bunch off the board so, if you take bats instead of SP, he might be a decent 'damaged goods' option if, of course, he's recovered fully.
I'd take CZam or Prior or Unit before him though as Harden did not get me quite as many K as I'd hoped last year and prefer SP w/ bunches of K to help w/ that cat.
To me, he has the best "stuff" in the majors besides Felix Hernandez....96-100 mph fastball, plus slider, plus changeup, and a filthy split finger pitch.....He has closer's stuff but he does pitch like a starter.....Doesn't try to strike everyone out....To go with all his pitches and his feel for pitching, he's a pretty darn good fielder too...He broke into baseball as an outfielder....This guy is an outstanding prospect and I have him rated pretty high. I dont think he is overrated at all.
AcidRock23 wrote:He apparently has amazing 'stuff' that warrants putting him up that high. This doesn't show up in the numbers that much but is worth something.
I agree that the other guys look better but, he's likely to be the last of that bunch off the board so, if you take bats instead of SP, he might be a decent 'damaged goods' option if, of course, he's recovered fully.
I'd take CZam or Prior or Unit before him though as Harden did not get me quite as many K as I'd hoped last year and prefer SP w/ bunches of K to help w/ that cat.
What stats have you been looking at?
Nearly a K/IP ratio every year in the bigs (amazing for a starter).
His K/BB ratio was 3/1 last season. His ERA has been SIGNIFICANTLY dropping everyyear since he came to the majors, so has his opponents batting average. What in the WORLD are you talking about?!?!?!
Sean Tracey has my apologies, we all know Ozzie Guillen is an idiot. I'm rooting for you!
This doesn't mean much, but its just something I remember from last year that gives you an idea of how good this kid is....In a minor league rehab start for the A's triple A affiliate, Harden pitched 3 innings, struck out 7 while only using 30 pitches.....He was slated to throw 60 pitches, but the manager had seen enough after that...
Zito is God wrote:What stats have you been looking at?
Nearly a K/IP ratio every year in the bigs (amazing for a starter). His K/BB ratio was 3/1 last season. His ERA has been SIGNIFICANTLY dropping everyyear since he came to the majors, so has his opponents batting average. What in the WORLD are you talking about?!?!?!
Just K and that 121 last year was not quite as many I needed out of him and that I expect the other guys to get more K. Obviously being shut down was the biggest part of that, I agree he's a great pitcher but I don't want to draft him and have him end up in a 'gray area' hovering in between pitching and the DL while the As play their cards as to his status close to their chest.
I suspect that he'll be fine and be a dominant force in the AL west but I'm not picking him b/c of the injury issues and, of course, my experience as a Cubs' fan watching pitchers who are 'fine' miss starts over and over and over again!! Unless its a bit later in the draft but I don't see him slipping that much b/c all of the reports are that he's 'fine' but not pitching in the WBC, for what that's worth...
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by ferris182 » Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:59 pm 
