Not sure if he was listed but Edison Volquez looks to be a deep sleeper playing in Cincy. If he can stay away from walks, he looks to get 10-12 wins with 130-150 strikeouts.
Inukchuk wrote:I actually really like Ian Kennedy as a nice sleeper this year. He's been nothing short of exceptional at every stop, and he seems to be a very mature 22 year old, which should help him deal with the pressure of playing in New York. He also seems to go undrafted in about 1/3 of the 12 teamers I've seen.
Add to that the fact that Hughes is getting the attention, and Ian's really flying below the radar despite a nice spring so far.
My concern with Kennedy is how many IP is he going to throw this year with NY? Doesn't seem like he will get much more than 150 but I really don't know? What are their plans with him?
Kennedy is slated to throw something around 190 innings, he has a lot more innings under his belt than Joba or Hughes.
kostnkost wrote:Not sure if he was listed but Edison Volquez looks to be a deep sleeper playing in Cincy. If he can stay away from walks, he looks to get 10-12 wins with 130-150 strikeouts.
Does he have a spot in the rotation? What are his chances? What about Johnny Cueto?
sixer03fan wrote:do you guys see jered weaver bouncing back this year?
i think the jered weaver you saw last year is the more real one than the rookie one. it's not like he had a bad year, but yes i see him improving on those numbers a bit but i don't think he was bad enough to call it a bounce back. just don't get caught up in his rookie season, which was incredible.
sixer03fan wrote:do you guys see jered weaver bouncing back this year?
i think the jered weaver you saw last year is the more real one than the rookie one. it's not like he had a bad year, but yes i see him improving on those numbers a bit but i don't think he was bad enough to call it a bounce back. just don't get caught up in his rookie season, which was incredible.
I can see Weaver bouncing back, but I don't expect him to return to something close to his '06 form either. Weaver has a bit of an unorthodox delivery (back turned to the plate at an angle) that could prove deceptive at times, but he tends to live and die by the flyball. Not saying he would flame out like a Jarrod Washburn, but I think he's good value for a mid-tier starter later in the draft.
Yoda wrote:Luke Hochevar is a dark horse for the 5th spot. He was so freaking good that he was drafted in the first round twice in his career. Oops greedy*.
I'd be suprised if he started the year in the rotation....all indications I get is that if he is up with the big club to start the year they want him in the bullpen and slowly move him to the rotation. We'll see...I'd love it if they just went with him in the rotation but I'm not sure they'll do that.
I'd like to see if the Royals will let Hochevar throw his slider more often with a possible move to the pen as that tends to be his strikeout pitch. Otherwise, Hochevar is somewhat underwhelming given his upside was supposed to be better than the field of pitchers he was drafted amongst.
Inukchuk wrote:I actually really like Ian Kennedy as a nice sleeper this year. He's been nothing short of exceptional at every stop, and he seems to be a very mature 22 year old, which should help him deal with the pressure of playing in New York. He also seems to go undrafted in about 1/3 of the 12 teamers I've seen.
Add to that the fact that Hughes is getting the attention, and Ian's really flying below the radar despite a nice spring so far.
My concern with Kennedy is how many IP is he going to throw this year with NY? Doesn't seem like he will get much more than 150 but I really don't know? What are their plans with him?
Kennedy is slated to throw something around 190 innings, he has a lot more innings under his belt than Joba or Hughes.
bsblallstr wrote:what about hiroki kuroda, the guy is going to be solid, just about all japanese pitchers pan out there first year, some dont but most do, they pitch a different kind of style than american guys, and this guy throws 95 mph, they said he was a just a tick down from dice-k, he is more of a veteran and seems to be falling quite a bit in drafts, not to mention he plays for LA which will be a solid team this year, plays most of their games in LA, SD and SF, those are big time pitchers parks, so i look a top 50 SP out of him this year
Just drafted him in my 12 team keeper league with my 20th pick. He is in an excellent environment so I'm hoping that he starts off well.
Agreed, Kuroda could be a solid back-end starter for a fantasy rotation. Kuroda is more of a pitch-for-contact type even if he has a mid-90's fastball in his arsenal and tends to throw it quite frequently. He has good movement on his pitches that could keep opposing batters off kilter (oddly they looked flatter to me last time out vs. STL). The real knock on him is that he'll surrender a bit of flyballs, but pitching at Dodger Stadium and in the NL West (not counting Coors & Chase) could help his cause.
I don't think Kuroda will ascend to top 50 SP material by year's end (more of an outside chance), but he's a good innings eater and not likely to hurt you as badly as the typical spot starter.
The Artful Dodger wrote:I'd like to see if the Royals will let Hochevar throw his slider more often with a possible move to the pen as that tends to be his strikeout pitch. Otherwise, Hochevar is somewhat underwhelming given his upside was supposed to be better than the field of pitchers he was drafted amongst.
He does have a ridiculous slider. Or used to at least anyway. I think he lost some zip on his fastball as well.
I think for the most part, he was the safest bet on draft day by pitching very well in the Indy league during his holdout the previous year. I couldn't completely blame them at the time.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin
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by kostnkost » Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:15 pm 
