2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers – Pitchers

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2012 Pitchers

The names of these pitchers on my 2012 fantasy baseball sleepers list created a wild fire in my brain and I just had to put them out with this spontaneous article. Let me know what you think of my list and if you have any baseball draft questions feel free to ask us on Twitter @fantasycouch. These pitchers are undervalued so be ready when the time comes to draft one of these sleepers in the mid-to-late rounds.

Top 5 Sleeper Pitchers

Johan Santana, NYM, SP – The concern with Santana is that he won’t make it through a full season without seeing the 60-day disabled list. He missed all of 2011 recovering from surgery to repair his throwing shoulder and is pitching well right now. In four Spring Training starts, just over 13 innings pitched, the lefty has a modest 3.38 era with one bad outing against the Tigers. His last start was six innings in which he allowed one run on six hits.

You’ll likely be able to get him towards the later part of your draft even though he’s starting to get hyped up a bit. Santana will have to be a ‘crafty’ pitcher going forward like Greg Maddux did in his older years; learning how to keep hitters off-balance and induce weakly hit balls. And the 33-year-old Venezuelan is capable of doing just that as long as he stays healthy.

A.J. Burnett, PIT, SP – Being back to the National League will be the best thing for Burnett who played his last six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees (three years apiece). He has proven to have “electric” stuff when at his best and is trying to revive his career as a grizzled vet. At least he won’t have to regularly face the AL East opponents or have the pressure of pitching in the Big Apple.

Burnett is carrying a 2.77 ERA through 13 innings pitched 11 punch-outs against nine hits allowed which is a good sign. When he can locate his fastball, the hard-throwing righty can be very effective with his offspeed stuff including a wicked, sweeping curveball. Look to pick him up off waivers in the end of April as he recovers from a broken orbital bone he suffered in early March trying to bunt at Pirates’ Spring Training facility.

Mike Minor, ATL, SP – Here’s a 24-year-old hurler who could be on the verge of a breakout season and not a lot of people know of him yet. Minor is yet to give up a run in 14 innings on the mound in four Spring Training starts. He has every right to be at least the fifth starter in the Atlanta rotation heading into the season and would be a great value pick later in deep drafts. In shallow leagues expect to see him available for pick up on the waivers for awhile. At 24 years of age, Minor is an ideal sleeper because of his good upside combined with the fact he’s under the radar for the most part.

Owners should expect him to be more effective in the early and mid part of 2012, with also knowing he hasn’t pitched a full season in a big league rotation. The Braves might also hold him back from making too many starts down the stretch to risk fatigue and injury. Ultimately, his production may resemble that of Michael Pineda last year who shot out of the gate and made the All-Star team to only fade, as the season grew older. He’s a guy that could potentially make you look like a genius as a last pick or waiver wiretap.

Joe Nathan, MIN, RP – The veteran landed in Texas after having some very good years in Minnesota playing most of his games inside the Metrodome. He’s coming off of Tommy John surgery that had him sit out the 2010 campaign and he split save opportunities with Matt Capps last season. Now his chance has come to be a full-time closer for a high caliber team that went to the World Series the past two years.

Nathan won’t go very high in most drafts because he didn’t pitch all that well last season with a 4.84 ERA in 48 appearances. He isn’t as dominating as some owners remember, but has an arsenal of pitches that can be overwhelming when fired effectively. Look for him to embrace his role as the club’s closer and he could very well produce amongst the top-10 relief pitchers.

Grant Balfour, OAK, RP – The new closer for the Athletics will be Balfour who knows how to get hitters out in the seventh and eighth innings being a middle relief/set-up guy the majority of his career. Getting outs in the ninth inning are harder in nature and Balfour is very capable of getting the job done over the course of a long season.

The righty posted a 2.47 ERA in 62 appearances that complimented a 5-2 record last year, his first in Oakland. Balfour’s Achilles heel has been giving up the long ball this spring and also last year, so understand that blown saves will occur every so often. For the most part, he will be a reliable for your team and should get about 35 or so save opportunities.