After concentrating on the offensive side of the game in the first tow installments, it's now time to take to the mound. Pitchers at the end of drafts are a dime a dozen, but every year someone has a breakout season, totally out performing their draft position.
Just like in the kitchen, preparation is key to successfully mastering your fantasy draft, with one of the main ingredients being finding value in the later rounds. In most cases we call these players "sleepers," but not all of these players are fresh faces that we have never seen before. In fact, the majority of the players we find in the later rounds we fine aging veterans on the decline, players returning from injury or players who have been up and down between the minor and majors still trying to find a permanent home. Whatever the case may be, these are the players that could be the difference in bringing home the trophy come September.
Since the term "deep sleeper" can mean a lot of different things, all players discussed in this series will hold an average draft position (ADP) of 250 or higher based off the most recent mock draft results of Fantasy Alarm's own Howard Bender and the Mock Draft Army. If you haven't checked out the Mock Draft Arm series,, be sure to give it a look as Howard continues to assemble some really good ADP information based on a series of mock drafts featuring experts from throughout the industry and fans alike. Now that we laid out the ground rules let's get cookin'...
Jimmy Nelson, SP (MIL)
Mock Draft Army ADP: 341.8
Prior to his debut back in 2013, the Brewers viewed Nelson as a potential future ace for years to come, but through 12 starts in 2014 he failed to live up to the hype. In 69.1 innings last season, Nelson finished 2-9 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.46 WHIP while owning a rather unimpressive 57:19 K:BB rate. However, at the age of 25 there is still plenty of time for him to right the ship as he enters his first full season as a big leaguer.
Nelson dominated the competition at the Triple-A level in 2014, going 10-2 with a 1.46 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and a K/BB rate north of 3.0-mark. Then the wheels fell off once he hit the big leagues, where both righties (.275 BA) and lefties (.309 BA) had much success in the Brewers youngster as he gave up hits in bunches. In fact, he gave up an average of 1.18 hits per inning pitched, which is just down right bad.
Despite his poor big league numbers, the Brewers have a lack of pitching depth so Nelson's spot in the Brewers starting rotation is safe for now, but he will have to start showing some of that minor league dominance at the next level. With that said, his 7.2 K/9 was a good starting point for Nelson although his poor walk totals and inability to pitch deep into games may have overshadowed his one strong category.
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Considering the other pitchers that are being drafted around Nelson in current Mock Draft Army events, the Brewers hurler has some of the best upside among a pile of aging veterans and borderline starters. If he works out great. If not, it really is no big deal considering drafting him isn't going to cost too much. The choice is yours, but if he can show any signs of what we saw from his in the minor leagues, owners will be cookin' with fire!