Henderson Alvarez: 2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper, Future Stud

Henderson Alvarez (credits below) Henderson Alvarez, the young Venezuelan, pitched his way to North America when he was just 16. Born April 18, 1990, he signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2006. He started slowly: 25.2 IPs in 2007 and 46.1 IPs in 2008. Then, the Jays took the training wheels off and let the 19 year old Alvarez throw 124 innings in 2009 at A ball. He posted a 3.47 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and impeccable 4.84 K:BB rate. The following season he moved to the Florida State league and hit some road bumps. He walked slightly more batters and gave up more hits. That said, his .338 BABIP and 67.5% strand rate had a decided hand in his 4.33 ERA. Undeterred, the Jays put Alvarez in AA for the majority of 2011. In 88 IPs, he posted a 2.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 3.88 K:BB rate. Then, on August 10, he started his first game in the show. He threw 104 pitches over 5.2 innings, striking out four, walking one and giving up three earned runs. After four starts, Alvarez was winl...