Over at Royals Review one of my members tried to gaze into the future regarding Brian Bannister, coming to this conclusion:

That makes it look like Bannister should be headed for a career as an average to above average pitcher and that is quite possible.  But I think we need to recognize that Bannister managed this in his rookie season (career numbers span 203 innings pitched in two seasons)  none of the above pitchers were able to do this in their rookie season.  In addition, Bannister is only 26 and I think it is reasonable to expect that he will improve somewhat over the next 2-3 years.

One could argue that the above cases, including Bannister represent exceptions to the general rule that in order for a pitcher to succeed, he has to have a fairly high strike out rate.  Therefore, perhaps it is unlikely that Bannister will be such an exception and will fall victim to the fate of most non-strike out pitchers in the majors.  This generally described strike out rule has seen some exceptions recognized in recent years. Knuckleballers and extreme sinkerballers can and often do succeed despite low K-rates.

Could Banny become the next Jamie Moyer, or will he just be the next Aaron Small?

http://www.royalsreview.com/story/2007/10/11/192941/55