As I described in an earlier post, one way I’m trying to get an edge in pitching is to attack the WHIP category. As baseball fans, we are conditioned to focus on ERA, which means that control pitchers with average ERA are often available. Find one on a decent team and you have a chance to pick up wins as well.

Now my WHIP strategy centers on two Minnesota Twins: Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey.

Both are young players whose minimal hype (compare them to Joba Chamberlain or even Andrew Miller, for example) has helped them slip under the radar. Yet they both have great potential. Slowey, in particular, has astonishing minor-league numbers, a 1.94 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over 397.1 innings.

I signed both pitchers on May 12. Slowey has pitched seven starts for the Buckets while Baker has had three since coming off the DL. Here are the results:

Slowey: 7 starts, 3 wins, 43.1 IP, 29 Ks, 4.44 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
Baker: 3 starts, 0 wins, 18 IP, 13 Ks, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP

These aren’t great stats, but not shabby, either. Remember the context — these are free agent starters signed to fill the fifth and sixth spots in my rotation. In my mind, Slowey remains the more interesting prospect. He’s managed to post that 4.44 ERA and 1.19 WHIP even with a disasterous June 8th start in which he gave up 8 runs, 10 hits and 1 walk in 3.0 innings. One bad start out of seven I can live with.