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03/02/2003 Archived Entry: "MLB News 3/1/02: Affeldt Turning Heads in Camp"
MLB News 3/1/02: Jeremy Affeldt is Emerging as an Ace for the Royals
by Bart Ewing
Everyone is talking about Jeremy Affeldt in Royals camp in Surprise, Az. Coaches, players, scouts, writers and fans all have Affeldts name on their tongues as the second week of camp concluded. Former Royal and broadcaster, Paul Splittorff said, "He's going to break every Royals' pitching record there is. He's for real, he's that good". Splittorff is actually known for his candidness and has not been afraid to criticize players or the team when appropriate in the past. Affeldt had a promising start to his rookie season in 2002 but he struggled after having reoccurring blisters similar to Josh Beckett. Affeldt spent the offseason consulting with Al Leiter on how to eliminate the problem. Affeldt thus far has shown no sign of the blisters.
Fantasytake: 1. It's spring training and that means hype. 2. It's the Royals. 3. Like I said it's the Royals but..... I there are so many different sources all saying the same thing. Affeldt was an impressive pitcher before the blisters last year. I am strongly recommending Affeldt especially in keeper leagues. I am not putting him up with Pedro and Unit. I am saying that of all the young pitchers being hyped as break throughs, he's rarely mentioned. In fact Runleavys Hernandez is often identified as the best young pitcher on the Royals. Affeldt may not even be considered draft worthy by many sim sources. Why I like him: Affeldt at 23, has a nice strikeout rate (over 7 per 9 innings), doesn;t allow a lot of homeruns, despite being in a strong offensive park, his control was a problem last year (over 4 walks per 9 innings) but some of that was the blister problem and in previous years he walked only 2.5 per 9.
I like Affeldt to win at least 10 games with an era around 4.00. He will give good strikeouts and be a bit wild but not too bad. In the American League that's draft worthy and he can do better. Tuck him away. In my Strat-O-Matic drafts, Affeldt went earlier than I expected. In a 24 team combined league he went late 2nd in the mid 40's ahead of Hernandez. In a 14 team Al only draft he went last pick of 2nd round- 28th behind Hernandez and Miguel Ascencio. Hernandez is another good pitching prospect, Ascencio is far riskier. I rank the Royals starters as Affeldt, Hernandez a tad behind and more risk to abuse his arm, Ascencio way back.
Replies: 1 Comment
What do you think of Trey Hillman as the Manager of the Hamfighters?
Posted by Patrick Fuchs @ 03/04/2003 12:09 AM EST
