Rich Harden, RP, Oakland Athletics

June 25, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By Aaron Adams
Edited by Ryan Dodson

Oakland A's starting pitcher Rich Harden has the dominant stuff to be considered the A's ace starting pitcher, but a lengthy list of injuries over the past three seasons has caused his ace status to come with a tag of "if healthy" as he has had five disabled list stints since the beginning of 2005.

Harden was activated on Thursday, June 21, after spending more than two months on the disabled list with tightness in his throwing shoulder. Harden should reappear in the rotation shortly after the All-Star break, "if healthy" but will work out of the bullpen in the meantime to allow him to regain strength and to fill the void left by injured relievers Huston Street (elbow) and Justin Duchscherer (hip).

Harden has had a lengthy list of injuries in his short major league career as he battled an oblique injury in 2005 leading to two stints on the DL, and he again had two stints on the DL in 2006 due to lower back and elbow injuries. While Harden's injury history is of great concern, there is no questioning his talent as he is armed with a dominant high 90s fastball that has topped out at 100 mph, a devastating splitter that has a unique mid-flight break that resembles a knuckleball, a plus changeup and a slider. If healthy Harden is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. In his first outing in the pen, he was dominant with two strikeouts in an inning of work June 22. He was consistently at 94 and 95 with his fastball.

Table: Rich Harden, SP, Oakland Athletics - Career Stats 

Year	W-L	Innings	ERA	K/BB	WHIP
2004	11-7	189.2	3.99	167/81	1.33
2005	10-5	128	2.53	121/43	1.06
2006	4-0	46.7	4.24	49/26	1.22
2007	1-1	20	1.35	22/6	.950

Fantasy Outlook

With Street and Duchscherer on the shelf with injuries, it would seem as if Harden would see some save situations, but the opportunity seems slight right now as current fill-in Alan Embree has had success working out of the closer role. This means Harden should see most of his work as a setup man in the sixth through eighth innings. While he probably won't slide into the closer role, he could earn a few vulture wins and should be the next in line for saves should Embree falter or need an off day. Harden should also continue to put up terrific numbers and will see consistent work meaning that he could earn almost a full starts worth of work per week until he resumes starting on a regular basis. 

If Harden can remain healthy and return to the rotation, he easily has the potential to be an ace on anyone's staff, making him a tremendous high-risk, high-reward acquisition. If you currently own Harden you should activate him and plug him into your daily lineup as his ratios should be good enough to merit a spot. If in the shallowest of leagues and you have a difficult roster cut to make, wait before activating him and try to make a trade that upgrades another position whiling clearing up a spot for Harden.  

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Aaron Adams
Aaron has been with KFFL since 2007.

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