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Diamond in the Rough 5/13/08 
RP Chris Perez, 22 (RHP), Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals) If you don’t know who he is plug your radar screen in, because Chris Perez is the heir apparent to Jason Isringhausen and his degenerative hip. The Cardinals announced this past weekend that Izzy wouldn’t be closing and they would use a committee until he gets his mechanics in order. Don’t let that fool you. Unless they decide to slide Adam Wainwright back into the closer’s role, Perez could be up as early as the All-Star break. With Wainwright anchoring a surprisingly effective rotation (Braden Looper, Kyle Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer and Joel Pineiro don’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of hitters or, outside of Wellemeyer, confidence in fantasy owners) that has St. Louis contending in the NL Central Division, it would seem counter-productive to move their young ace to the bullpen. For the moment you might want to take a shot at Ryan Franklin and maybe Russ Springer. Either could be a cheap save source, just don’t spend a lot on either. Regardless of who they use in that role for now, it's Perez's job to lose in the near future. Perez is a power pitcher with the mental makeup for the ninth inning. Perez was selected in the supplemental first round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft (42nd overall). In 2006, he held opponents to a .198 AVG against and did not allow a HR. He followed that up in 2007 with 31 consecutive saves for AA and AAA. This year in AAA he is holding opponents to a .200 BAA and in 16.2 INN has 21 SO. Future closers are usually hard to find in fantasy baseball. So far teams have had mixed results converting college closers to Major League closers but Perez looks like he’ll buck that trend and in fact could be setting a new one. 2007 AA and AAA (21)
2 W 1 L 2.96 ERA 54 G 35 SV 54.2 INN 23 H 18 R 18 ER 5 HR 41 BB 77 SO 1.09 GO/AO .130 BAA 2008 AAA (22)
1 W 1 L 2.16 ERA 17 G 8 SV 16.2 INN 12 H 4 R 4 ER 1 HR 8 BB 21 SO 1.50 GO/AO .200 BAA
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