Last year, Edinson Volquez was one of the top pitching draft prospects, and with good cause. The season prior (2008), Volquez broke out of his mold as a rookie for the Cincinnati Reds , posting a 17-6 record with a 3.21 ERA and an explosive strikeout to ball ratio of 206/93.
His only knock was he beaned 14 batters.
However, 2009 was problematic and disappointing for the young ace, making this year’s value very questionable.
Volquez started April of ’09 very shaky, which led to the notion of something being amiss. His first four games were represented with an inflated 6.21 ERA and a “too close for comfort” strikeout to ball ratio of 22/20; hardly the pitcher most felt Volquez was primed to be.
But Volquez began to turn things around at the end of April into the month of May.
In his next two games, he pitched eight innings in each contest, winning both, had 13 SO with only five BB, and gave up zero homeruns. Soon after that, Volquez took a serious turn downward, and on Jun. 1, after only one inning pitched, Volquez was pulled and put on IR.
Enter this year.
As far away as the fantasy baseball season is, it’s still a good idea to start gathering current news on high profile players, Volquez being one of them.
It is reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer that Volquez is ready to throw, and he has suffered no setbacks from his Tommy John surgery he had back in August, but that doesn’t mean anything.
Tommy John surgery is a fickle beast. It can fix what ails a pitcher in one swipe of the knife, but it can also drastically change a pitcher’s mentality and mechanics.
Volquez was still trying to master his control as a young pitcher; coming off of surgery could hold more danger than reward for those who waste an early draft pick on him.
Cincinnati has plenty of high profile starting pitchers other than Volquez to choose from including: Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, and this year’s sleeper candidate—in my opinion—Homer Bailey.
For now, Volquez should be dropped in your overall rankings, along with Johnny Cueto—until he (Cueto) shows more consistency, that is—but should you have an open spot later on or find Volquez on the waiver list, consider picking him for evaluation purposes.
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