The fate of fantasy baseball teams can change with a few good sleeper picks.
One of those picks for many owners (including myself) last season was Chris Sale—the relief pitcher turned ace. Before the season started it was unclear if Sale would even be in the rotation, but he finished in the Cy Young conversation when the book closed on 2012.
All it takes is one pick in the later round to strike fantasy gold. Here are three pitchers who are poised to shine and are under the radar of most fantasy owners.
Lance Lynn
Lynn had a breakout season in 2012, but fantasy owners still aren’t big believers of the righty’s sustainability. In CBS’s latest mock draft, he was drafted in Round 11 alongside Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Garza. I see Lynn building on last year with a firm spot in the Cardinals rotation.
On top of his 18-win campaign, he notched eleven games with seven or more strikeouts last season. He has a relatively young arm, only pitching 180 innings last year. He’s ready for the heavy workload and fantasy owners will be lucky to have him.
Unless you read this column and draft him afterward. Then you’re just plain smart.
Jason Hammel
Hammel started 2012 on fire before tailing off after a knee injury in the second half. Still, the potential for a great season in Baltimore is on the table, pending his health.
He had eight quality starts through July 8 last year, and he can be an innings hound in those fantasy leagues that reward for them.
With some quality hitting finally in Baltimore, Hammel should get more run support and reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2010.
Jacob Turner
As for deep sleepers: Why not take a chance on Turner? The 21-year-old is one of the young faces of the Marlins new rotation.
Viewing the Fish on paper, most of it looks like fantasy trash. However, Turner will have an entire season to show his stuff in the more pitcher-friendly National League.
In three starts at Marlins Park, the right-hander had a 2.75 ERA. The former Detroit Tiger will need to fix his problems on the road—where his numbers skyrocketed—in order to have any fantasy value.
Mike Shiekman is a Breaking News Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow his sports musings and random life observations on Twitter.
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