Hidden fantasy baseball hurlers

Looking for pitching help? These under-the-radar hurlers are demonstrating good stuff and should be on all fantasy rosters.

RHP Brad Penny, Red Sox - An excellent value so far at $5 million for the season, Penny has enjoyed a resurgent season in Beantown. He credits the shoulder program he started earlier this year for helping him return to his 2007 form. In one of his last starts, Penny was reaching 97 mph as late as the sixth inning. His confidence is back.

Don’t be put off by his 4.71 ERA; that is inflated by an 8.66 April ERA. Since the calendar flipped to May, his ERA is 3.79, and he is striking out 6.63 batters per nine. His WHIP has also dropped in each month this season (1.27 WHIP in July).

Brad Penny has been worth a bit more this year....

RHP Joel Pineiro, Cardinals – A complete-game three-hitter Thursday, July 9, was just Pineiro’s latest gem; he needed only 100 pitches and induced 19 gopher-killing outs in that start. He has allowed only seven earned runs in his last 38 2/3 innings (1.63 ERA).

The 30-year-old former Seattle Mariner has relied heavily on his fastball this year, mainly his sinker. The bullpen saver is throwing his fastball about two-thirds of the time, and he is pitching aggressively, per manager Tony La Russa.

LHP Jarrod Washburn, Mariners – Yet another sinkerballer; the 34-year-old is demonstrating form not seen since his days as an Angel. He recently started throwing a new sinker, which helped him to a complete-game one-hitter Monday, July 6. His sinker confuses hitters, starting out in the strike zone before falling out.

He’s relying almost exclusively on his fastball; he threw just one changeup during the July 6 start, chucking mostly two- and four-seam fastballs. His combined June and July ERA is 2.34, and his WHIP is a lowly 1.09 this year.