Young was always scrapping together a "career best-like" year, at least in terms of ERA+. But he had done it with a weirdly unimpressive FIP and very few K's (in '07 he struck out nearly 9 guys a game!). The great question about Young was just how far he could carry the guise......before his numbers normalized. He made it further than almost any of us would have imagined. In a 3.5 or 4-man playoff rotation, Young isn't included.
What I love about Elias, beyond his developing and impressive stuff, is his makeup. He appears to be pretty unflappable and basically without fear. He just doesn't seem to pitch scared. I like that. It is a rare commodity for a rookie.
In many ways he's kinda what we wanted Hultzen to be as a rookie: A lefty with stuff and guile. Barring injury, he will pitch in the bigs for a long time. if we were to include Walker in a swap for a MOTO bat next spring, I would be increasingly comfortable with that just because of the presence of Elias.
As we look to '15 there are 3 positional question marks remaining. Ironically they are the three "mashing" positions; DH, 1B, RF.
Morrison and Saunders stand at the head of the line currently, but neither is a lock. Morales has moved well back in the line. Romero will get a look-see. Deej and Kivlehan are longshots, but closing fast. Kelly is a maybe. And then there is the trade market.
Betcha we grab someone over the winter, someone not named Morales, btw.
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