Fantasy Baseball: Jeremy Hellickson Living Up to Pre-Season Hype

Since the beginning of last season, fantasy baseball managers have been drooling in anticipation of Tampa Bay Rays minor league pitcher Jeremy Hellickson's call to the majors.

Outside of the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg, Hellickson was the most anticipated minor league hurler last season, posting ridiculous strikeout to walk ratios and a respectable 2.45 ERA at the Triple-A level.

His downright nasty stuff and overall command gave Hellickson the nickname "Hell Boy" among fantasy managers and experts alike.

The highly touted prospect finally made his majors debut on August 2nd of last season against the Minnesota Twins and went on to finish the year with a 4-0 record and 33 strikeouts in 36.1 innings.

His short 2010 season was respectable for the rookie, and led to high expectations for Hellickson heading into 2011 despite the fact that he must pitch many of his games in the tough American League East division.

This season started out with Hell Boy throwing a 10 strikeout game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which left many owners with high hopes that the Rays pitcher would dominate the majors in the same way he did for Tampa Bay's farm system.

Unfortunately, this form wouldn't continue throughout April. The young Ray posting an ERA above four and had only 23 strikeouts at month's end.

However, as the season has progressed, Hellickson has made owners happier and happier.

His strikeouts have been ranging from as low as two to as high as six per game in the past two months. But that's a small price to pay for a pitcher who has only given up more than three earned runs three times in almost two months of play.

On the season, the Iowa native has recorded seven quality starts, one less than Atlanta Braves ace Tommy Hanson and tied with the Phillies' Roy Oswalt.

His June stats haven't been as pretty as the ones he posted in May, but Hellickson seems to be adjusting well in his first season in the majors. He has the talent to post numbers similar to Oswalt the rest of the season, despite playing in a tougher division.

Look for Hellickson to continue his success and finish the season with numbers worthy of his preseason hype.