Two More Pitchers to Watch

Two other pitchers made strong season starts yesterday. Ian Snell (Pit, '04 RC), who was one of the pitchers that I've been watching from last season when he went 14-11 with a 4.74 ERA, pitched 6 innings and allowed 4 hits & 2 runs, striking out 11. Even though his ERA wasn't that good last year, he averaged over 8 K's per 9 IP, and showed very strong potential (Also, he did have a winning record for a team that went 67-95 last season). Snell has quite a few RC cards (incl many Auto RC's). They all book for pretty affordable prices still, with his Ultimate Collection Auto RC #'d 75 being one of his best ($40 BV).

The other pitcher is Jake Peavy (SD, '01 RC), who yesterday threw 6 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits & 2 walks, with 6 K's. Peavy came off two strong seasons in '04 (15-6, 2.27 ERA) & '05 (13-7, 2.88 ERA) before hitting a slump in '06 (11-14, 4.09 ERA). He's now looking more like the ace from before, and his key RC's should definitely get a long awaited boost. Even through his slump last season, he has remained a strong strike-out pitcher, averaging close to 9 K's per 9 IP throughout his 5 year pro career. Most of Peavy's RC's are under Topps' brands. His Bowman Chrome RC's are probably his most popular, while Topps Fusion put out his only RC year Auto ($80 BV).

A few others on my watch list from last season are Paul Maholm (Pit), Ricky Nolasco (FLA) & Ervin Santana (LAA). These guys remain quite affordable (unlike young pitchers Jered Weaver, Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano & Felix Hernandez), and I think that they have a lot of potential to grow in value.