My POV on Lee and Strasburg

I have a few things that I want to touch upon right before the All-Star break. Here goes:

- Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee is arguably the best pitcher in the American League and some may even say currently pitching in the game. Sure Ubaldo Jimenez is currently 14-1 with a 2.27 ERA but he has slowed down from his torrid pace to start the season by winning only one of his last three starts and giving up 17 earned runs in 17.2 innings while in his previous 102 innings he only gave up 8 earned runs. Lee on the other hand missed the first month of the season and is 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA for a Seattle Mariners team that has had its shared of troubles this season. So far in 13 starts for the Mariners, Lee has only had two no-decisions, one start of 6.1 innings, three of 7 innings with the remaining 9 starts being of 8 innings (five starts) and 9 innings (four starts). Cliff Lee is what you would call a quality pitcher. He currently leads the A.L. in ERA (2.34), WHIP (0.95) and complete games (5). I would also venture to say that he leads the league in trade rumors. Speaking of which.

Rumors have linked Cliff Lee with two American League teams: The Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays. Let me touch on the Twins first. The Twins have not had a pitcher of Lee's caliber since they traded Johan Santana to the Mets in 2008 and have been rumored by Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse of offering prospects OF Aaron Hicks and C Wilson Ramos to Seattle for Lee. The Cincinnati Enquirer speculated that the Reds would make an offer to Seattle in the form of prospects headlined by 1B prospect Yonder Alonzo, the 2008 first round draft pick for the Reds. Most intriguing has been the statement by Rays owner Stuart Sternberg that money would not be an issue at this year's deadline and there has been a rumored three-team trade that would involve Cliff Lee and Tampa's B.J. Upton. I've always felt that the ideal place for Lee to be traded to was the New York Mets. The combination of Santana and Lee with Pelfrey and Niese make the Mets a favorite to win the Wild Card and make them strong contenders for the N.L. East. Whether or not Seattle trades him remains to be seen. We have an interesting three weeks to go until July 31st.

- Stephen Strasburg
Those that hear me talk about Strasburg feel that I am against the kid succeeding. Not so. I have only felt that the kid has not been able to pitch in any real trouble situations since the organization has had him pitch against sub-standard MLB lineups. Before this week, the only strong lineup that he faced was the Chicago White Sox while he dominated the Pirates and the Royals and was good against the Indians. This week showed me something about him.

Strasburg faced better lineups in the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. I watched him pitch in the Braves game and came away with the following points of view. The Braves were able to work him to longer pitch counts that other teams by showing patience at the plate. Strasburg only struck out 7 Braves while he averaged 10 K's per game in his previous 4 starts. He also faced his first real trouble spot with bases loaded and no outs in the 6th inning. To be fair, he walked Chipper Jones and gave up a scorching single to Brian McCann but would have had a runner on third with two outs if the shortstop had made the play at short instead of booting the ball. The Braves being a better offensive team, were able to capitalize on the error by scoring 4 runs off of him, of which 3 were earned. Against the Mets he also not as effective by walking 3 and striking out 5 in 5 innings and giving up 2 runs, both earned.

These two starts were more impressive to me since he was able to pitch in and out of trouble and even though he didn't dominate, it showed that he was able to play under pressure in trouble situations. All pitchers get hit and many don't win games. All I wanted to see was how he performed in those situations and he showed me that he could. One last thing about Strasburg.

This whole drama about his not making the All-Star team is ridiculous. He is 2-2 in only 7 starts. There are pitchers that have 9 and 10 wins and did not make the roster. Those players would be more deserving that him at this point. Strasburg has more that enough years to make All-Star teams. Let him earn them as every one else.

FH

This Weekend's Pitching Performances

The impressive year of the pitcher 2010 keeps getting better with some real good performances this weekend.

Ubaldo Jimenez
Colorado pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez beat the Minnesota Twins to improve to 13-1 which is the best start by a pitcher since Roger Clemens started 14-0 in 1986. In doing so, Jimenez lowered his ERA to 1.15.

Jimenez became only the second pitcher in the last 80 years to win at least 13 of his first 14 starts. Besides Clemens, Lefty Gomez went 13-1 for the Yankees in 1932

Stephen Strasburg
Stephen Straburg pitched 7 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 ER striking out 10 with no walks in a no decision against the Chicago White Sox. Strasburg lowered his ERA to 1.86 for the season in a much more impressive performance against a much more potent lineup than the Pirates and the Indians.

Cliff Lee
Cliff Lee beat the Cincinnati Reds on a complete game 1-0 shutout. In doing so, Lee earned his fifth career shutout and his 16th career complete game. Lee struck out seven in a six-hitter hurling just 110 pitches while lowering his ERA to 2.55. Lee has pitched at least seven innings in 10 of his 11 starts this season.

Phil Hughes/Mike Pelfrey
When Hughes and Pelfrey faced each other Saturday, they each had nine wins and a winning percentage of .900 or better. The only time in baseball history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, that two starters entered with better credentials was in 1900. Philadelphia's Bill Bernhard played host to Brooklyn's Joe McGinnity at the Baker Bowl. Both starters were 12-1.

Both pitchers played well with Hughes beating Pelfrey 5-3. Hughes held the Mets to three runs in seven innings Saturday to improve to 10-1 this season.

This victory leaves Hughes tied with David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays for most wins in the AL (David Price after Sunday's loss to the Florida Marlins is 10-3).

Jake Peavy
CG 2H. 2BB 7K's 1-0 against the Nationals

Colby Lewis
CG, 2H, 0 BB, 9K's 5-1 against the Astros

Jered Weaver
7.0IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 11K's against the Cubs

Hisanori Takahashi
6.0IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 3K's Yanks (12 shutout innings against the Yankees in two starts)

Felix Hernandez
CG, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 9K's against the Reds.

Josh Johnson
8.0IP, 6H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 9K's against David Price and the Rays. This was Johnson's 8th straight start where he allowed 1 run or less. During that time, Johnson has allowed 5 runs, 4 earned in 57 innings for an ERA of 0.63. Overall, his ERA for the season is 1.80.

C.C. Sabathia
8.0IP, 4 H, 0R, 2 BB, 6K's against Johan Santana and the Mets

Carl Pavano
CG, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K's against Roy Halladay and the Phillies

Talk about an impressive weekend for the pitchers. Wow.
FH

To Keep Him In or Take Him Out

Stephen Strasburg made his anticipated second start in front of 32,876 spectators including Indians legend and Hall of Famer Bob Feller (I'll get back to him in a bit). The second time around resulted in a victory as with the first, leaving Strasberg 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched. Stasburg has struck out 22 while only walking 5. The line looks good but I have a little issue with how Strasburg is being handled.

Let me paint you a scene (as the artist that I am, LOL). Your young rookie pitcher is on the mound with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th, he loads up the bases with a walk, the 2nd walk of the inning and 5th walk of the game. Moment of truth for you as the manager: Do you keep him in to see what he's made of or do you take him out. Well, in the case of Strasburg, Nats manager Jim Riggleman adheres to the company rules regarding Strasburg and pulls him out with 91 pitches thrown.

I guess its a pressure situation that some pitchers get taken out of the game. But you know what, leave the kid in and let's see what he's made of. What's the worst that can happen, OMG...A Grand Slam? Strasburg wouldn't be the first pitcher to give up a Grand Slam and survive. It won't always be easy for him so why not let him test his mettle in the fire. But don't blame Riggleman for it. It is how the system is being run for pitchers these days. Nolan Ryan may be the only administrator who is trying to rebuild starters from what they've become: 6 inning quality pitchers. Ryan must have been shaking his head when Strasburg was taken out.

So while Strasburg was in the midst of walking the 5 batters, he complained about the mound at the Jake (sorry folks, hate to call Jacobs Field Progressive Field in the same manner I refuse to call Comiskey Park anything but Comiskey Park) requiring 2 trips by the field crew. At the point that Strasburg was removed, he was extremely frustrated. Was it with the mound or was it his performance? Maybe he should have stayed in to work through the frustration, for good or bad. Just saying folks.

Getting back to Hall of Famer Bob Feller. As I stated earlier, Feller was in attendance at the game and made some comments towards Strasburg and the mound. As the season progresses, there will undoubtedly be some comparisons between Feller and Strasburg. Feller came up as a fireballer at the age of 19 with the Indians in 1936 and finished with a 266-162 record with a 3.25 ERA and 2581 strikeouts. So when asked about Strasburg, Feller commented that:

He (referring to himself) asked the grounds crew to repair the mound maybe one or twice in his career, never in mid-inning, and suggested that Strasburg, "Should bring a bucket of clay with him (to the mound).He also said "Call me when he wins his first 100,"

Ah, you've got to love the old school players. LOL. But Feller was also complimentary towards Strasburg by saying that:

"He has a good career coming up," Feller said. "I understand he's very affable, but very quiet and is very conscientious. He'll be probably tougher for right-hand hitters than left-hand hitters. He loses about two or three miles per hour on his fastball with men on base, I noticed that on the radar. But that's typical. That's not unusual at all." Feller also said that "[Strasburg] has a good changeup," Feller said. "I never used my changeup to anybody, only left-hand hitters. But he has a decent changeup. His curveball breaks more than the average curveball. His slider is part of his repertoire, which is a good pitch to left-hand hitters, keep it on their fists.

"But he'll have a half-dozen or so hitters he won't be able to get out. Like me. We all have half-a-dozen or a dozen hitters who, no matter what you do, seem like they know what you're going to do and get their base hits. He'll have good days and bad days. "I think he's done very well; of course this is not the 1927 Yankees either," he said, nodding to the home dugout. "Or the Cleveland Indians of 1948." True enough Mr. Feller, true enough.

Hey guys, let the kid pitch. Enough with the Strasburg rules, the Joba rules and the Hughes rules. If Strasburg is as good as the hype makes him to be, he'll be able to get out of situations like bases loaded and one out. Just let him do so. Like any situation, sometimes we have to take our lumps. Its is only natural to do so. The lineups with get harder, especially this upcoming Friday. Strasburg will make his 3rd start against the Chicago White Sox. We'll see how he does then.

Later,
FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here for Pat McManamon's article on Strasburg and Feller's comments on MLB Fanhouse
- Click Here for the USA Today's Daily Pitch describing Feller's other comments and Strasburg's day

Mr. Strasburg Goes to Washington

Stephen Strasburg made his anticipated debut yesterday at a sold out Nationals Park in Washington D.C. against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Strasburg gave an impressive performance in his debut against the Pirates.

Pitching 7 innings, Strasburg gave up 2 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits striking out 14 while walking none. His control of the variety of pitches that he commands was amazing and showed amazing poise and resilience after giving up his first major league homerun.

Keep in mind folks that before we proclaim this kid a Hall of Famer, he did it against the young Pittsburgh Pirates. Let's see how he does against the big boys of the National League over the length of the entire season before we hand him the mantle that was held by such Hall of Famers as Koufax, Gibson and Ryan. For all we know he could be the next Kerry Wood and Brien Taylor as opposed to the next Nolan Ryan.

What I do find amazing is that the balance of power of Baseball has shifted from Baltimore to Washington D.C. to the chagrin of Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Maybe he should sell the team to Cal Ripken and put the Orioles back on the road to success. As it looks, with the drafting of Bryce Harper by the Nationals with the 1st pick, the arrival of Stephen Strasburg and the further development of a young team the Nationals look to be a beacon of hope for Baseball in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area.

FH