Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sleeper Pick: Fernando Abad

Alden Gonzalez' article has a tip for you: keep an eye on Fernando Abad.

Abad has spent pretty much his entire three-year Minor League career as a reliever, but late in the 2009 season, he was converted back into a starter. And though he's projected to begin the 2010 campaign with Double-A Corpus Christi, he could be a member of the Astros' rotation soon enough -- maybe even at some point during the upcoming season.

Ricky Bennett:
"He's really getting close. I think one thing that he does well is throw strikes. If you look throughout the course of his career, he's always shown the ability to throw strikes. [His stuff is] not overpowering, but it's in the strike zone, it's deceptive, and he's got some movement on his two-seamer, so all those things you look at as a left-hander. And when you compete and you throw the ball over the plate, you make the hitters put the ball in play. And that's what he does."

Mills has taken notice, as well:
"You look at the numbers that he puts together, the command that he has really stands out. And any time you can get a left-handed pitcher with the command he has, that's a nice thing to see."

Abad:
"I have a clear head. I know there are other veterans ahead of me. They know I throw strikes and I'll get outs anywhere. So, it's in their hands to see when I pitch in the big leagues. I'm just going to keep showing what I can do."