Kevin Slowey – Showing Flashes of a Developing Fantasy Baseball Ace

I first came across Kevin Slowey (left in this 2007 Topps Heritage rookie baseball card) via Heater Fantasy Baseball Magazine last year in their weekly prospects report. My NFBC team was desperate for pitching and we spent a small fortune with nearly a $500 FAAB bid to get him. Slowey’s first tour in the big leagues was rocky so when he got sent back down we cut him. Ultimately Slowey would come back to finish with a strong September.

Kevin Slowey is a command and control pitcher and succeeds by mixing his pitches and hitting the corners. In 133 innings last year in AAA he tallied 109 Ks (nice for guy that doesn’t strike people out) with a 1.89 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP – all in all exceptional minor league pitching totals. At the big league level he pitched 66 innings with 47 Ks, a 4.76 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, but these numbers are brought down by a solid September showing which I believe has decreased his value. Also, note that Slowey threw 200 innings at both levels having entered the season at age 22.

His minor league stats and subsequent September success were just too tantalizing for me and I drafted in my NFBC and “beer” fantasy baseball leagues. He’s been up and down a lot this year which is common for youngsters but still posts a 3.96 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 46 Ks in 63 innings. Those are excellent numbers given his inconsistency and I look for steady improvement the rest of the way which could make him a valuable pitcher down the stretch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin Slowey was a top 30 fantasy baseball pitcher from mid-August through the end of the year – get him now!

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