Joe Saunders, SP, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

August 16, 2006 @ 16:00:00

By Chris Hadorn
Edited by Ryan Dodson

On Aug. 5, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim fans were dismayed over the announcement that defending Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon would miss the rest of the 2006 season due to a partially torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. Joe Saunders, Colon's replacement, has calmed the fears of the Angels faithful after four brilliant starts at the big league level. The rookie southpaw is 4-0 with a 1.67 earned run average through games played on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Saunders is one of four impressive homegrown talents on an Angels staff that features youngsters John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver.

Table: Joe Saunders Career Statistics

Year	Club	Level	W	L	ERA	WHIP	IP	K	H	BB	ER	HR
2002	Provo	Rookie	2	1	3.62	1.00	32	21	40	11	13	1
2002	Cedar Rapids	A	3	1	1.88	0.86	29	27	16	9	6	2
2004	R. Cucamonga	A	9	7	3.41	1.22	106	76	106	23	40	13
2004	Arkansas	AA	4	3	5.77	1.67	39	25	51	14	25	5
2005	Arkansas	AA	7	4	3.49	1.31	106	80	107	32	41	9
2005	Salt Lake	AAA	3	3	4.58	1.56	55	29	65	21	28	3
2005	Los Angeles	AL	0	0	7.74	1.56	9	4	10	4	8	3
2006	Salt Lake	AAA	10	4	2.67	1.00	135	97	117	38	40	12
2006	Los Angeles	AL	4	0	1.67	1.04	27	18	18	10	5	1

 The Angels selected Saunders with the 12th overall pick in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft. Shortly afterwards, the former Virginia Tech Hokie's career took a detour as he missed the entire 2003 season with tears in his labrum and rotator cuff. Since then, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound left-hander has gradually worked his way back to prominence. After two adequate minor-league seasons, Saunders enjoyed a breakout 2006 season at Triple-A Salt Lake as he improved his command despite pitching in a difficult environment in the thin air of Utah. 

Saunders is a crafty southpaw who throws a high-80s to low-90s fastball, curveball, slider and above-average change-up. Saunders has a knack for cutting his fastball to neutralize right-handed hitters. Saunders' pitch arsenal is far from ace quality, but he relies on pinpoint control, finesse and deception to retire batters.

Even though Saunders projects as a third starter at best, fantasy players should take advantage of his success while he is hot. His major league success and impressive numbers at hitter-friendly Salt Lake demonstrate that he is in a groove. Saunders has just surrendered 18 base hits in 27 innings of big league work and he has yet to give up more than two earned runs in a game. 

As for the long-term, fantasy players should be cautious about putting too much stock in Saunders as a keeper. Saunders is a similar southpaw to fellow youngsters Zach Duke and Noah Lowry in style and repertoire. Both Duke and Lowry enjoyed outstanding seasons in 2005, but they have struggled this year as their pitch location has gone by the wayside. Basically, Saunders has little margin for error if he misses his spots because he is not overpowering and he lacks the raw stuff to overcome it.

Bottom Line 

Fantasy managers who have Saunders on their roster should continue to ride the wave while it's ripping. They have a window open for the rest of the season, as Saunders probably doesn't have enough starts left for the opposition to master his release point or his pitches.

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Chris Hadorn
Chris Hadorn has covered minor league and amateur prospects for more than a decade. He writes for San Diego's North County Times and has been a KFFL fantasy baseball contributor since 2006.

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