Debate: This Year's Liriano, Hamels, Linc

[Tigers1223]

I dont think that Kershaw will get the call. IMO. I do think there is a great possibility for Gio, and had he not hurt his elbow, a decent shot for Price. What does everyone else think?

[Inukchuk]

I strongly suggest picking up Blackburn now that it looks like that Liriano will be taking Slowey's spot instead of his. More time to impress and a harder decision for the Twins to make. That Slowey injury might make him a huge pickup.

He's definitely one I'm watching. Do you think he has any chance to improve his K rate?

[jdsun1]

I dont think that Kershaw will get the call. IMO. I do think there is a great possibility for Gio, and had he not hurt his elbow, a decent shot for Price. What does everyone else think?

Not so fast....per ESPN:

And they've already begun internal discussions on how to get maximum late-season impact from their favorite phenom, Clayton Kershaw.

They've kicked around the idea of limiting Kershaw's early-season innings in the minor leagues by replacing some of his early starts with planned bullpen breaks, where he would pitch only a couple of innings. That way, if they opt to call him up midyear, he should be fresh enough, theoretically, that he could be used normally, as opposed to finding himself in a Joba Rules-type scenario.

Kershaw, who just turned 20, had a stupendous spring, giving up only one run (on a solo homer), whiffing the likes of Prince Fielder and David Ortiz, hitting 98 mph on the radar gun and earning scout adjectives like "electric" and "special."

"This guy is real," said GM Ned Colletti this spring. "He's definitely real."

[Tigers1223]

wow, that was good info. Thanks. I will be keeping and eye out for him. Do you think that Gio gets the call this year? If so what do you expect?

[AussieDodger]

wow, that was good info. Thanks. I will be keeping and eye out for him. Do you think that Gio gets the call this year? If so what do you expect?

I think so. Maybe May or June call up. I don't know if he'll have perfect control straight away, but you'll get tons of Ks.
Pick up , bench and watch when he gets called up

[Yoda]

Gio will almost definitely get called up by June barring catastrophic failure.

[j24jags]

After Cueto today, it's hard to make a case for anybody else. I think Kershaw will be great too though, it's just a question of when he comes up.

[MattKemp]

I agree that Danks could be this years sleeper. He may not get a K per inning, but he could rack up a lot of wins! I love Kershaw, but have a tough time trusting a pitcher that young!

[Yoda]

Just watched Cueto's outing. One word describes his outing today. Wow. He works quickly, attacks the hitters and when he misses, it isn't by much.

He has a great moving mid 90s fastball that he can command at will. Upper 80s late breaking slider and a mid 80s change up that he threw at will at various counts.

He didn't make a lot of mistakes today and even the Upton HR was a good pitch. Upton just beat him there. The most impressive thing was how he bounced back from blowing the perfect game in the 6th and retired the rest of the batters that he faced. He was completely unfazed.

He developed very quickly and he is very polished for a rookie pitcher. I know he will hit his rough patches but it's hard to imagine that he will completely fall apart. He's going to be very good.

[West]

Just watched Cueto's outing. One word describes his outing today. Wow. He works quickly, attacks the hitters and when he misses, it isn't by much.

He has a great moving mid 90s fastball that he can command at will. Upper 80s late breaking slider and a mid 80s change up that he threw at will at various counts.

He didn't make a lot of mistakes today and even the Upton HR was a good pitch. Upton just beat him there. The most impressive thing was how he bounced back from blowing the perfect game in the 6th and retired the rest of the batters that he faced. He was completely unfazed.

He developed very quickly and he is very polished for a rookie pitcher. I know he will hit his rough patches but it's hard to imagine that he will completely fall apart. He's going to be very good.

Thanks for the analysis, Yoda. I'm lucky enough to have a high waiver in both of my leagues.

Is it just me or does there seem to be alot of good young guys this year?

From what I've seen so far on this thread, and my own reasoning, my list looks like this -
Gio Gonzalez, Blackburn, Manny Parra, Cueto/Volquez, Kershaw, Jon Sanchez, Phil Hughes and Dustin McGowan (who both debuted tonight and looked solid), and everyone's favorite sleeper Billingsley. I don't really like David Price's potential after the injury but if you're gonna talk TB pitchers, Garza should be solid.