As promised, here's the second half of our examination of players who shined during the last half of the 2009 season. Listed below are seven pitchers -- five starters and two closers -- who displayed some marked improvement over what they posted during their first halves.

I tried to focus on guys who are actually drafted among the top 30 or so at their position. As you may have noticed from the hitter post, there may be glaring omissions if you start looking back at split stats to try and find a hidden gem.

Again, what you will notice is that, in most cases, these guys are underrated because their full season stats belie the talent they likely possess, which we can get a better grasp for by looking at what they figured out as the season wore on. I repeat the caveat that I mentioned with the hitters, which is that these are fairly small sample sizes. All figures below will be based on less than 100 IP. The main point is to get everyone a little more familiar with splits and how they can give you a bigger picture to a player's value, because a lot of drafters can be lazy and just look at the full season stats. Looking deeper is where you'll often find the hidden advantages.

Brett Anderson -- I took a cheap shot at Anderson in a previous post, labeling him as a guy you'll likely pay too much to roster this season. The hype train for the guy is rolling, and he's creeping up pitcher rankings as we speak. But if the guys you draft with are living under a rock and don't pay attention to draft guides and sleeper posts and allow him to slip, he'll be one you want to keep an eye on. After the All-Star Game last season he was very impressive for someone his age, with a 3.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 4.3 K/BB in 88 innings. Maybe the most impressive stat was his turnaround in homers allowed; he cut his number of bombs surrendered nearly in half. If he can show that power/command combo and keep the ball down, watch out.

Wandy Rodriguez -- Wandy's made a nice progression over the last couple years, making him a bit of a hot commodity in drafts this year. His overall numbers were some of the best last season, yet he's still under-appreciated because of the sick seasons put in by other NL aces last year and because of the team he plays for. He's the only starter listed here whose ERA actually went up a tick in the second half (from 2.96 to 3.10), but a quick look at the peripheral stats show he only continued to improve later in the year. His K/BB jumped from 2.65 to an elite 3.78, and the WHIP went down to 1.19 from a 1.28. Those numbers right there tell you ERA will never give you the full picture of a pitcher's talent. When guys are waffling and sceptical whether or not he can repeat that sparkly 3.02 ERA number in '10, grab him knowing he showed more than enough talent-wise to continue the trend.

Ryan Dempster -- Many who drafted Dempster in '09 based on his huge 2008 season were immediately disappointed. His first half was rough, with an ERA over 4 and an awful 1.37 WHIP. His overall numbers don't look a lot better, even though he was able to get back a lot of the skills he showed during his breakout campaign. When guys in your league are writing him off as another one-hit wonder, you should be taking a solid look after knowing he put up a 3.15 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and almost doubled his K/BB rate after the break (2.02 up to 3.95).

Gavin Floyd -- The White Sox rotation might be the class of the AL this season, and Floyd looks like he's getting lost in the shuffle a bit. Another guy who should slide when drafters look at his whole-season ERA over 4, Floyd's post-ASG numbers say he should be able to hold his own on the South Side staff. His noteworthy line during that period: 3.49 earned run average, 1.11 WHIP and a big-time 3.94 strikeout to walk number. If he can carry those gains into '10, he'll likely provide better value than his teammates that go before him.

Jonathan Sanchez -- 2009 was a complete roller coaster ride for Sanchez and his owners. If there's anyone out there that kept him through the ups and downs, you have a much stronger stomach than most. He was wild and inconsistent early on and got himself banished to the bullpen. When he finally got his rotation spot back, he tossed a no-hitter. (The first one I've ever been present for. Hopefully not the last ... get 'er done Timmy) To say he finally figured it out along the way would be overstating things, as he's the most likely guy on this list to blow up in your face. He still walks entirely too many guys to be a reliable fantasy starter, but Sanchez can miss bats with the best of them. After dropping a turd on the owners who drafted him by posting and ERA near 5 and 1 1/2 base runners allowed an inning, he managed to get those numbers a lot more respectable in the end by going down to a 3.83 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in the second half. He's boom or bust, but the upside is worth taking a risk where's he's currently drafted.

Huston Street -- Street was acquired by the Rockies to solidify the back end of their bullpen in '09 and for the most part he did just that. He was bounced back and forth between closer and set-up man along the way, but over the course of the year was solid all-around. It seems like drafters hold his multiple "demotions" against him, because he's going a lot later than guys who had nothing on him other than a bigger save number. He's a top closer when given the opportunity, and he looks to get every opportunity in 2010. He's got sick command -- a 9 K/BB ratio in the second half -- which will mitigate the few extra bombs any pitcher in Coors allows. And keeping runners off is the key to converting saves, which Street does with the best of them. Just look at the great .76 WHIP after the All-Star Game last year.

Brian Wilson -- Though Wilson dropped his Twitter account last year after some misunderstood ninja comments, he's still stealthy as a ninja in most drafts, slipping past many less qualified late inning guys. The whole year was a success for Wilson, and his overall numbers show that. But when you look deeper, you'll see that he posted a super 1.64 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in the second half while improving his solid K/BB along the way as well. He's got as good of a kung-fu grip on his job as anyone (okay sorry... no more ninja stuff), and his team plays in a lot of close games because of their non-existent offense. He's a good bet to be among the save leaders at year end despite the late round investment.

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