After switching over to the mound in Monday's feature, I decided to take a look at another young pitcher that could be a steal in the later rounds. As you probably know, pitchers are a dime a dozen at this point in drafts so the price tag will certainly not be the issue, rather whether or not they can either hold onto a starting job or produce enough to remain on a fantasy roster.
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'...
Taijuan Walker, SP (SEA)
Mock Draft Army ADP: 269.6
Although he may not have a guaranteed spot in the Mariners starting rotation, the organization's top pitching prospect is someone to keep a close eye on this spring as pitcher and catchers start to report to camp. Walker was supposed to have a breakout season in 2014, but a spring training injury and inconsistent performances landed him in the minor leagues through most of the 2014 season. Through 38.0 innings at the big league level, Walker finished 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 34:18 K:BB rate which leave many questions to be answered as we head into the start of spring training.
For Walker, his biggest issue a season ago was his inability to kick a nagging shoulder injury, which limited him to just 120.0 innings between the minors and the big leagues. Then when he finally did get the call he had trouble commanding the strike zone, resulting in a rather high 4.3 BB/9 and a demotion prior to the rosters expanding in September. Considering his career 3.5 BB/9 in the minor leagues, there is room for improvement in regards to his walk rate.
On the other side, Walker has racked up strikeouts since the first time he stepped on the mound after being drafted in the first round by the Mariners back in 2010, owning a 9.7 K/9 through 435.2 minor league innings. Although his command didn't show up at the big level, Walker did own a respectable 8.1 K/9 in his limited innings between the starting rotation and the bullpen while managing to keep the ball in the yard in his short stint with the Mariners (2 HR allowed). If he is able to regain his control and maintain a solid strikeout rate the true Taijuan Walker could finally make a name for himself at the elite level.
GET YOUR COPY OF THE 2015 FANTASY ALARM BASEBALL DRAFT GUIDE --- FOR FREE!
As it stands right now Walker will be in competition with Roenis Elias, J.A. Happ and Erasmo Ramirez for the final two spots of the Mariners starting rotation this spring, but of the four pitcher involved he by far has the most upside, although all three of his competitors have more big league experience than him. Bottomline, if Walker is able to stay healthy through spring training it is hard to believe he won't be in the starting rotation come April and considering where he is currently being drafted you would be a fool not to take a chance on him. For now his value lies in deep leagues, although he has potential of having a breakout season if his minor league number follow him to his first full season in the big leagues.