Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers

[RaychelSnr]

The Winter Meetings have recently wrapped up, and some high-caliber players have found out that they will be wearing different uniforms come next season. Frankly, though, I am tired of hearing about the top pitchers in the Majors, and have now begun wondering about any diamonds in the rough on some of the lesser-known teams; players who would be getting just as much attention as the likes of Jake Peavy, C.C. Sabathia, or Francisco Rodriguez, but are instead stuck on losing teams that are not talked about much. That is why I am focusing on some of the top rising stars on lesser-known teams.

Perhaps you would like to trade for one or more of these pitchers in your favorite baseball game’s franchise mode, or maybe you are just looking for good pitchers to select for your fantasy baseball team come this spring. Whatever the reason, make sure to acknowledge these pitchers because they are just as deserving of praise as their counterparts on more widely known teams.

Read More - Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers

[SlimKibbles]

Jared Burton could have put up even better numbers had he stayed healthy. Nice season in '08 though. He's the future closer of the Reds, imo.

[rsox]

Re: Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers

I don't really see how Brian Moehler, a veteran of 12 seasons with 4 different teams can be considered an unknown. The guy may not be a top flight player but he has pitched in nearly 300 games.

[jpup]

ERA is a terrible way to judge a reliever.

[Coug00]

Re: Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers


Waits for the onslaught from the OS Baseball Forum's Dark Side (us SABR geeks) since it looks like Wins, Losses, and ERA were the major criteria in this list.

On another note, Ryan Rowland-Smith is a starter. He started off the season in the pen, but became a starter the 2nd half of the season. His value lies in his salary. He won't overpower anyone and doesn't have a consistent out-pitch, but he's just good enough to start and he's CHEAP. Plus he has his own blog and seems like a damn cool guy.

[Rob5KC]

Overall this is a nice article, however, Leo Nunez is now a member of the Florida Marlins. He was traded for Mike Jacobs about a month ago

[ARMORALLL]

Good to see Jesse Litsch on there. He used to be the Tampa Bay "Devil" Rays Bat boy. In my season of MLB 08 The Show, I have trouble having him go more than 5 innings. He always gets roughed up after that.

[walezy]

grant balfour...

[computerlover]

jeremy guthrie.. baltimore orioles.. his W/L could have been much better if the O's offense would have helped him out and the ultimate bullpen collapse on him. but he is one to watch.
W-L ERA K BB
10-12 3.63 120 58

[computerlover]

btw.. guthrie was the pitcher in 07 that had boston 5 to 0 going into the 8th, and got the L when the bullpen and defense gave up 6 to loose 6 to 5.. its one of the radio clips in MLB 08 too..

[SPTO]

Re: Diamonds in the Rough: Ten Valuable Unknown Pitchers

Good to see Jesse Litsch on there. He used to be the Tampa Bay "Devil" Rays Bat boy. In my season of MLB 08 The Show, I have trouble having him go more than 5 innings. He always gets roughed up after that.

That's because prior to last year he was basically a 6 inning guy. Last year he did a lot better with his stamina so I figure the video game version of him will be a bit more durable in the next round of baseball games.

[RaychelSnr]

I love the fact you included Matt Harrison...his 5.49 ERA and all. I think Nolan is going about building the pitching staff in the right way, I'm not sure the guys pitching at RBiA are ever going to be ERA champs, but they can certainly be more effective at home than anyone else.

It also gives us virtual GMs getting ready for the upcoming season's baseball games something to think about

[vaughn99]

Sorry to be a Scrooge, but I'm looking at this as an ok read, at best -- but I'm really not sure of the point here. Maybe this works better as a blog than an article.

Not all of these guys are good fantasy grabs (and you didn't list typical fantasy stats so maybe you're not suggesting that) and even fewer of them are available for our favorite "real life" teams to go after via trade.

This is not a statistical analysis, either. I mean, even the lay-est of laymen here are miles beyond considering W-L and ERA as markers for talent. So maybe give us some projections for 2009 that we can compare with "popular" baseball thought (like here: http://baseballprospectus.com/ )?

There's way too many qualitative "feeling" and "I think" descriptions here for my taste . . .

And unless you're a consultant for The Show or MLB2K, this write up isn't going to affect these players' abilities in-game -- so maybe you could offer suggestions as to how to accurately alter these pitchers' ratings to reflect their "potential" in the current titles until the updates come out?

That, I could use.

[bigfnjoe96]

No Joba... Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa Humbug

[Crash Davis]

good list