Card of the Week: 5/14/14

Injuries are a part of any major sport.   Unless your name is Cal Ripken or Lou Gehrig, you are probably going to find yourself missing a game or two, or on the 15- or 60-day DL.  But it seems like all-too frequently, pitchers at the MLB level are finding themselves requiring Tommy John surgery.

Sometimes, players can come back from the surgery and as good as they were beforehand (see Adam Wainwright).  Other times, promising pitchers get sidetracked and are never the same (see....well, that list is too long).  This week's card of the week has yet to be featured on our 2013 charts, but because this player's injury looks to be heading towards TJS, just a short time after being named NL Pitcher of the Month for April.  That, of course, makes this week's Card of the Week...

...the 2013 Jose Fernandez.  I am a big fan of this card for a lot of reasons.  A Control 4 pitcher who doesn't give up runners on their chart until an 18 seems like the perfect fit to me.  The control is high enough where you will get the advantage more than enough times, and when you do, your opponent has a very tough time getting runners on.

The obvious downside to this card is the 5 IP.  But consider this: many of you would still pitch a Control 3 18+ for six healthy innings, or even a Control 2 18+ for seven healthy innings, why not pitch Jose at his dominant card for 5 innings, then take the chance and stretch him a couple more?  To me, definitely worth the shot.  Of course, at 480 points, how much is it worth for you to take that shot?

Another reason that I decided to highlight this card is this is one of my favorite looking cards in all of the 2013 set.  I really like the orange jerseys on the black background.  And he is by far the best card on a very poor 2013 Miami Marlins team.

If you have suggestions for Card of the Week, feel free to comment below or send me a tweet, @RokTikiTiki.