In June of 2011, Trevor Bauer's name was on the tongues of many baseball analysts, but it was regarding speculation of who would take him in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.  With the third overall pick in the draft, the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled the trigger on the 6-foot-1-inch righthander from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

While at UCLA, Bauer drew comparisons to two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum (someone Bauer modeled his style after while in high school) because of his stature and delivery.

A year later, in June of  2012, analysts again are talking about Bauer.  This time though, it is about how he has raced through the minor leagues in the past year, making stops at High-A Visalia and Double-A Mobile last year, before starting this season at Double-A Mobile and being promoted to Triple-A Reno last month, all gearing up for his major league debut later this week against the Atlanta Braves.

His overall minor league numbers are very impressive and they look even better if you focus on what he has done this season at Double and Triple-A.  At these two levels in 2012, the College Baseball Golden Spikes award winner has made 16 starts, posting a 2.23 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP, while striking out 116 batters in 93 innings pitched.  The only blemish on his stellar performance thus far is the amount of base on balls he has issued.  Over the same 93 innings Bauer has handed out 48 walks - something that he will need to improve on to be as successful at the major league level.

His first time out, Bauer will face the Braves, who are currently sitting in second place in the National League East.  This is not a team that will allow Bauer to necessarily ease into the big leagues.  Atlanta's offense ranks third among NL teams in runs scored, but has struggled a little against righthanded pitching, posting a team triple slash line of .258/.319/.403.  The matchup will be a good test for the young hurler and give the fans and the rest of baseball a chance to see how good Bauer can really be.

Trevor Bauer is currently owned in just 35% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues, so if he is available pick him up him now.  A pitcher with this kind of college pedigree is a must add while he is in the majors.  The only thing to worry about with Bauer is his walk rate.  It alone will increase his WHIP higher than what you would expect from an upper-echelon fantasy pitcher, and it could lead to more problems.

In the minor leagues his dominant "stuff" and tremendous amount of strikeouts has allowed him to still be successful while walking as many batters as he has.  There is a good chance at the major league level he will not be as dominant, and more of those free passes he issues will turn into runs.  Another aspect to think about is that the Diamondbacks will be careful with his young arm, with pitch limits and inning limits restricting his strikeout and wins total.  Essentially, do not expect Bauer to come into the league and perform like Stephen Strasburg did upon his arrival - he will be good, but not a fantasy ace out of the gates.