In a surprising move, the Cincinnati Reds sent Josh Hamilton and his feel-good story to the Texas Rangers for pitching prospect Edinson Volquez over the winter. The decision has turned out to be a win-win for both clubs, with Hamilton hitting the cover off the ball in Arlington and Volquez leading the National League in ERA, even before his seven shutout innings against the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon.

Volquez garnered significantly less attention than teammate Johnny Cueto early, who burst onto the scene with an outstanding spring and a dominant first outing. Though Cueto has just a tad more upside, Volquez features a similar repertoire and is already growing into a frontline big-league starter.

The 24-year old has bouts of wildness, which can limit his effectiveness and prevent him from going deep into starts, but he also has two electric pitches that keep even the most veteran hitters guessing. His change-up is a plus offering, but he sets it up nicely with a variety of fastballs. He can bring four-seam heat at 96 mph, then mix in and locate two-seamers that cut, tail and sink.

And just when a hitter thinks he can square up a cutting fastball at the knees, Volquez uses his out-pitch, a straight change-up, to get him out in front and send him back to the dugout.

After his seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts against Chicago, Volquez moved into the major league lead with 52 strikeouts in 42.1 innings and into second behind Cliff Lee with a skimpy 1.06 ERA. Walks have been concerning - he has 24 of them - but given that he has yet to allow more than one earned run in a start, he seems to be coping with them just fine.

As an added bonus, Volquez rarely makes mistakes up in the zone and has a 41-to-23 groundball-to-flyball ratio. Between empty swings and groundballs, Volquez has the right mix of stuff to be a force, even at hitter-friendly Bank One Ballpark.

Other thoughts …
Redleg Nation sees the Hamilton-for-Volquez deal as an even swap.

Was Watching compares Volquez’s first big-league season to Phil Hughes in 2008.

Nuf Ced Sports mentions Volquez among major league starters with the best stuff.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.