Los Angeles Angels call-up
Tyler Chatwood, just 21 years old, will make his second big league start Saturday, and if he holds his own he could make quite a few more starts for the Angels after that, given the struggles they've had at the back end of their starting rotation.
Chatwood did not make my top prospects list for 2011 impact, yet, as it turned out, he was among the first starting pitchers to get called up. So why didn't I place him in my top 100? Well, it was not because I doubted his talent or potential opportunity; it was more because I was concerned that he wasn't quite ready for prime time.For what it's worth, he was among the last five names I cut from the final list, and he was actually on my radar last year. In fact, I provided an in-depth scouting report of him last August, calling him an under-the-radar pitcher to monitor.I'm still concerned about Chatwood's ability to stick in the big leagues at this point. I'm just not sure his command and control are refined enough for him to have consistent success at this stage of his career. Still, I did put a bid on him in a deep AL-only league last week before him allowing four runs over five frames in his big league debut because I'm already looking for starting pitching depth, as are many owners in that format.After a couple of early homers in his debut start, Chatwood settled down and finished with three scoreless frames, showing flashes of his potential. He topped out at 94 mph, showed a plus curveball that froze batters more than once and managed to get a few swinging strikes on his changeup, a pitch that has improved since I saw it last year. He was also very aggressive, worked quickly and trusted his stuff, even when he was behind in the count. Once he settled down, he also was able to keep the ball down in the zone more often to induce ground balls. That was one of his strengths in the minors, and he'll need to do that at the big league level to succeed. Meanwhile, three of his four walks came in his final inning -- he struggled with his arm slot -- but he was able to get out of the jam without allowing any runs thanks to a big double-play ball off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo.Chatwood has a lot of potential and a good repertoire to build on, but he still has much to learn and improve upon. Having to do some of his learning at the big league level makes Chatwood a risky fantasy play for now as he builds consistency with both his delivery and command of his pitches. A lot of people in the Angels' organization like to invoke the name Roy Oswalt when discussing Chatwood's future potential, but at age 21, Oswalt was still at the low Class A level. He was not pushed aggressively to the big leagues, as Chatwood has been.I rostered Chatwood in a 12-team AL-only league because I'm already in a position in which I needed to take some risks. But that might not apply to your deep-mixed or AL-only squad, so use your judgment accordingly.Top 11 for '11