Sleepers: Philadelphia Phillies
By Adam Forsyth
The Shallow
Jayson Werth – Outfield (LF, CF, RF)
A tag along career up until last season, Werth came out of nowhere to fantasy relevance. The former first round pick of the Baltimore Orioles (22nd overall in 1997), who slid his way in and out of three organizations (Baltimore, Toronto and Los Angeles) without being given a true shot, Werth already has a World Series ring, and has found a home in the Phillies outfield.
Comfortable in any of the three OF positions, Werth heads into the encore of his 73-.273-24-67-20 season as the starting right fielder, and should be given an opportunity to play every game. His skills as a base runner have always made him a plus player (49 career attempts and only caught stealing 5 times). The extra pop that Werth provides allows him to comfortably fit in the 2 or 5 slot of a very effective line-up. This posh position, surrounded by the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, and the newly-acquired Raul Ibanez, further improve his, um…worth.
That cool strip of facial hair that he tends to sport is also a good reason to invest some man-love for the 29-year old native of Springfield, Illinois. Hopefully the previous season wasn’t just Werth cashing in on a contract year, (signed a 2-year $10 million deal in the off-season), and he develops into a nice late bloomer.
We expect similar numbers from him, although there is some concern of him spending some time on the DL early in the year, as he has been battling both a sore shoulder, and a groin tweak. Werth definitely makes a nice third outfield option in 12 team mixed leagues, and won’t hurt as a floater in leagues that use LF, CF and RF designation.
The Deep
Carlos Carrasco – Starting Pitcher
This 21-year old product of Venezuela has been pining away in the minor league for five seasons. Along the way, he has experienced many rollercoaster type moments as he has worked his way up from Rookie ball, all the way to a brief stint in AAA-Lehigh. Racking up a 39-35 record along the way, Carrasco has been slightly intriguing, yet overly inconsistent. He’ll give you a great 8+ inning, two-hit performance, and follow it up with a seven earned run bomb.
This spring, with the injury to Cole Hamels, and the vulnerability of Kyle Kendrick, was an opportunity for Carrasco to peek his head into the picture. Unfortunately, he hasn’t impressed, allowing 11 runs (7 earned), 13 hits and 2 HR’s, in only 10 innings of work. While he has struck out 10, Carrasco has been stigmatized with the tag of having to throw too many pitches per inning, which gets in the way of him going deep into a game.
His career minor league stats aren’t anything to write home about, with a 3.93 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and a 2.13K/BB ratio, which overlooks his impressive 7.81K/9IP line. He has to work on his control, and with a mid-grade fastball being his bailout, at the major league level, without location, he will be eaten alive.
If he works on his mechanics, and grows on his assets, Carrasco could be a mid-rotation pitcher with upside. Only in the deepest of dynasty leagues should his name be called out come draft day. Wait for him to earn the right to your waiver wire pick-up.
