Franklin Morales 2009

In limited innings, Franklin Morales went from good in 2007 (K/9: 6.3, BB/9: 3.3, GB%: 54.9) to really, really bad in 2008 (K/9: 2.9, BB/9: 5.5, GB%: 40.0). The dropoff was so extreme that it was clear there was some physical issue, particularly because his average fastball velocity dropped from 92.5 to 90.9. It is being reported now that Morales is over some back problems he suffered from last year, has fixed his mechanics, and is consistently throwing in the 92 to 94 MPH range. If Morales continues to be healthy and throw well in Spring Training, I'd consider him an excellent late round sleeper in deep leagues. One of the keys to watch for is his groundball rate, since that's where a lot of his 2007 value came from. Morales turned 23 yesterday, so there's still the potential for rapid improvement in his performance.