Underrated pitcher alert: James Shields

In his second season in the major leagues, James Shields has failed to get much notice despite pitching some quality baseball. Perhaps it's because he pitches in the garbage hole of Tampa Bay that has the Yankess and Red Sox to admire. Maybe it's that he's not the typical sexy pitcher. Shields doesn't tantalize major league hitters with a high 90's fastball, however, he does offer an intersting mix of sinkers and change-ups to go with a decent enough fastball.

The main thing that shows just how good Shields has bene is his K/BB of 4.93. To put that number up over any kind of extended period of time requires top notch command of every quadrant of the strike zone. Shields can do this effectively, and to fool hitters he generally spins off a 12-6 change-up. Again, nothing that makes you sit there and admire each pitch he throws like his teammate Scott Kazmir, but he knows how to pitch and many fans don't realize just how good Shields is even though he doesn't have top calibre stuff.

Now Shields's ERA is only 4.32, but this is very deceiving. For one thing, he pitches in the east division where he has to battle it out with the Yanks and Sox. Plus he pitches in front of arguably the worst defense in major league baseball. In addition, Shields' home park, Tropicana Field, is notorious for making just about look silly.

In an average surrounding environment, Shields could easily be posting sub 4.00 ERA's while pitching in arguably the toughest division to pitch in. His FIP shows this. Tropicana field is about the only reason he has an ERA of 4.00.

Shields is similar to Reds pitcher Aaron Harang. Like Shields, Harang doesn't wow you with great raw stuff, but he continously manages to find ways of getting hitters out by offering an array of quality pitches, while having firm command of the strikezone. Plus he also pitches in a massive hitters park in front of a bad defense. These types of pitchers should notbe overlooked. They get the most out of their ability, and if they were on a halfway decent team, I'm sure they could get the attention they deserve.

Knowing how low the D-Rays budget is, Shields provides excellent pitching at a bottom barrell price. Not only is he a valuable commodity, but he may actually be Tampa's MVP this season. For Tampa Bay's sake, hopefully they realise what they have with him.