Tommy John could derail the Cardinals for a long long time

Tommy John has such a pleasant sounding name. And he had a long durable career. But wow, hearing his name is you are a pitcher must be liking hearing the reaper knock on your door.

I had already equated him with the creepy preacher in The Right Stuff.

Now Tommy John's specter looms over Adam Wainwright and also the entire fate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Wainwright's season might be done with.
And with the Reds and Brewers looking strong for 2011, the Cardinals hopes to win the Division might be sliced along with Wainwright's elbow.

That would mean the Cardinals' best hope (the 1-2 punch of Wainwright and Carpenter in the rotation) would scrapped.

And with Carpenter at the end of his contract (he has an option and a buyout for 2012), he might be the best available pitcher at the trade deadline. No doubt the Yankees will be willing to pay with top prospects after losing out on Cliff Lee last year. The Red Sox would get into the mix if Beckett, Dice-K or Lackey flop. Maybe the Phillies want FIVE aces.

Either way they will get a key piece for 2012 and beyond.

But what about that beyond?
In case you haven't heard, Albert Pujols' contract is up at the end of the year, and all indications are showing he is going to be a free agent.

If the Cardinals have a flop season and wind up dealing Carpenter, would Pujols want to stick around for the rebuilding? Or would he want to reinvent himself and create a new challenge elsewhere. There will be some crazy owner who will shell out $25-$30 million a year for Pujols. He knows it. You know it.

And would you turn that down to rebuild?

Wainwright needs his elbow reconstructed.
When he won his 20th game last September 24th, little did any of us know that it could have been his last with Albert Pujols as a teammate.

Oooh that Tommy John.

BIGGEST POST SEASON SERIES UPSETS OF WILD CARD ERA

I admit, it doesn't look good for the Giants.

I am rooting for them to win the National League Pennant and any team that has Tim Lincecum pitching twice in a series can't be counted COMPLETELY out.

But it will be a longshot.

There is NOTHING the Phillies can't do now and their lineup is a little more fearsome than the Braves.

A safe bet would be the Phillies winning in 5 games.

But every once in a while there is a playoff match up that looks like a total mismatch (even worse than this Phillies/Giants NLCS) that turns out to raise a middle finger to all of the predictions.

Obviously there are some great historical upsets... like the 1926 Cardinals, the 1954 Giants, the 1969 Mets and 1988 L. A. Dodgers come to mind.

But let's look just at the Wild Card era (1995 to present) and see which series looked like no brainers and it turned out the experts had no brain.

BIGGEST POST SEASON UPSETS OF WILD CARD ERA


1997 ALCS
INDIANS defeat ORIOLES

The Orioles led wire to wire and won 98 games. The Indians won only 86 games and barely squeaked past the Yankees in the Division Series.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
The Orioles shut out the Indians in Game 1 and had a 2 run lead in the 8th inning of Game 2.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
Marquis Grissom hit a 3 run shot off of Armando Benitez in Game 2. Then the Indians won in 12 for Game 3 and finished Game 4 with a walk off win.

THE DAGGER
The Indians overcame a brilliant Mike Mussina outing in Game 6 to win in 11 innings and stunned Baltimore.

1997 NLCS
MARLINS defeat BRAVES

The Braves had won 4 of the last 5 pennants. With a 101 win season, a 5th pennant in 6 years looked all but assured. The Marlins won 92 games and the wild card, but they were playing the varsity team and looked over matched.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
The Marlins won a pair early but the Braves tied the series when Denny Neagle threw a complete game shutout in Game 4. With Maddux and Glavine looming in Games 5 and 6, it looked bleak for Florida.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
The late Eric Gregg called any pitch that Livan Hernandez threw a strike as long as it didn't hit the ground. He struck out 15, giving the Marlins the lead.

THE DAGGER
Tom Glavine imploded in the first inning of Game 6, letting the first four batters read base and having them all score before the Braves even came to bat. It would be all Kevin Brown would need to clinch the pennant.

2002 American League Division Series
ANGELS defeat YANKEES

The Yankees were in full dynasty mode. The Angels had never won a post season series and looked like a bunch of inexperienced kids heading into Yankee Stadium. No doubt this would be a forgettable series much like the Yankees manhandling the Rangers all of those years.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
The Yankees rallied to win game 1 in the 8th and took a lead late into Game 2. It was going to be a sweep a la the Yankees/Texas series of the past.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus hit back to back 8th inning homers off of El Duque to take the lead in Game 2. Then in Game 3, the Yankees blow an early 6-1 lead and the Angels break the tie with a Tim Salmon home run in the 8th.

THE DAGGER
David Wells melts down in the 5th inning of Game 4 as the Angels score 8 times and go on to win their first ever playoff series.

2002 American League Division Series
TWINS defeat A'S

Thanks to a 20 game winning streak, an MVP season from Miguel Tejada, a Cy Young season from Barry Zito and 103 wins, the A's looked poised to stampede into the ALCS. The Twins, who were rumored to be contracted just the year before, were just happy to be there.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
A series of Twins blunders gave the A's a 5-1 lead in Game 1, making it clear that this series was Men versus Boys. Later, the A's were up 2-1 with Hudson and Mulder ready for games 4 and 5.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
The Twins came back to win that Game 1 and scored 11 unanswered runs in Game 4.

THE DAGGER
A. J. Pierzynski's homer and David Ortiz's double broke open a tense Game 5 in the 9th. The Twins would need every run as Mark Ellis homered to bring the A's to within 1 but Ray Durham, the potential series winning run, popped up to give the upstart Twins a most unlikely series win.

2006 American League Division Series
TIGERS defeat YANKEES

The Tigers slumped badly down the stretch and went from a lock for the Division title, home field in the Division Series and playing the A's to claiming the Wild Card and going to New York to face a stacked and eager to wipe away 2004 from their memories Yankee team. They were no match.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
The Yankees torched Nate Robertson for 5 runs in the third and cruised to an 8-4 Game 1 win. Then Johnny Damon hit a three run shot in Game 2 and it looked like the sweep was on.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
Carlos Guillen hit a game tying homer off of Mike Mussina but Curtis Granderson drove the Yankees crazy. He got a run scoring sacrifice fly in Game 2 and gave the Tigers the lead with an RBI triple. In Game 3, former Yankee Kenny Rogers out pitched Randy Johnson in what turned out to be the Big Unit's final game for New York.

THE DAGGER
Joe Torre dropped the slumping Alex Rodriguez to 8th in the fourth game and gave the starting assignment to Jaret Wright. He was bombed and the Tigers finished the Yankees in 4.

2006 NLCS

CARDINALS defeat METS

With the Yankees eliminated in the Division Series, the Mets looked poised to capture the city's baseball heart. Neither American League team (the Tigers nor the A's) looked dominating and all they had to do for the pennant was beat an injured and underachieving Cardinals team who won only 83 games.

IT LOOKED BAD WHEN:
The Mets shut out the Cardinals in Game 1, scored 3 in the first of Game 2 and were tied going into the 9th of Game 2. The Mets were clearly in control.

THINGS TURNED AROUND WHEN:
So Taguchi hit a go ahead 9th inning homer off of Billy Wagner to give the Cardinals a Game 2 win. Then, behind Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver, took a 3-2 series lead back to Shea.

THE DAGGER
The Mets forced a Game 7 which was an all time classic. Endy Chavez preserved a tie with a mindboggling catch that turned a go ahead homer into an inning ending double play. Yadier Molina homered in the 9th to give St. Louis the win and rookie Adam Wainwright got Carlos Beltran to strikeout looking with the bases loaded in the 9th to win the pennant. The Mets have never recovered.



Interestingly, there are 6 upsets but only 3 different years. They've come in pairs.

Are the Giants as unlikely to win as the 2006 Cardinals or Tigers?
Probably not.

So there is hope.

Maybe one of the Giants pitchers will get Ryan Howard looking to end the series!

Hey Adam Wainwright. Now would be a good time to WANT that Cy Young

At one point Adam Wainwright looked like the Cy Young Front Runner...

He was 17-6 with an ERA of 1.99 on August 11 and it looked like a 20 win season and a sub 2.00 ERA were in his future.

Then it looked like he decided to make a conscious effort to hand it over to Roy Halladay.
He had been 1-5 since and his ERA has jumped up .51 points.

Now of course he is still in the mix for the Cy Young and some of his losses were tough luck losses.

But a big win here would go a long way. A nice domination of the Padres would land him win #19 and make his ERA closer to 2.00 than 3.00. And the fans would love him for it...

Not the Cardinals fans... GIANTS fans.

Giant fans have images of a Division Title dancing in their heads and the Padres going on another skid would go a long way to making that true.

So come on! It is fun to be loved. Cardinals fans will love you forever if for no other reason than clinching the 2006 World Series.

You can have San Francisco fans love you too and you don't even need to change uniforms.

So come on, Adam. A Cy Young would look good on your mantle. Go for it tomorrow.

Hey Adam... why don't you want to win the Cy Young Award?

For the second straight start, Adam Wainwright can't make it to the 6th inning and the chance for win #18 goes down the toilet again. Unless the Cardinals go on a mongo comeback, he'll have lost his 5 straight decision.

So when he was 17-6 with a 1.99 ERA, the Cy Young was his to lose.
Barring a Reds bullpen collapse he will be 17-10 with a 2.34 ERA... great numbers to be sure, but not good enough to call the race.

Does he have an incentive clause to NOT win it?

Most 20 game winners in 90 years? It’s possible

In 2006, when 16 wins was good enough to lead the National League, it seemed like the 20 game winner was going the way of the Dodo and the Liberal Republican.

But win #20 is making a comeback in 2010... or at least it COULD be.

Now, of course, I know the win total isn't the end all and be all of a pitcher's greatness.
I've been advocating Felix Hernandez to win the Cy Young Award even though his only has a 10-10 record.

And in my plea to put Bert Blyleven in the Hall of Fame I criticized the emphasis on wins when evaluating his career.

That being said, "20 Game Winner" still has a nice ring to it.

It is kind of like "Oscar Winning Director." Now is Ron Howard, who won the Oscar, a better director than Alfred Hitchcock, who never won it? Of course not. But it still looks and sounds cool.

And with September now starting, there are a few legit candidates to win 20 and a few long shots.

And if they ALL come through, then we will see the most 20 game winners since 1920.

With about 30 games left, each of these pitchers will get about 5 or 6 more starts. Some will have to run the table... which is unlikely, but you never know...

Let's break it down and see who is close.


2 More Wins - Currently at 18 wins... would be STUNNED if he falls short.

C. C. Sabathia







3 More Wins - Currently at 17 wins... One more good streak and you've got it.

Ubaldo Jimenez





Adam Wainwright





4 More Wins - Currently at 16 wins... Keep pitching well and hope the bullpen doesn't blow one or two.

Roy Halladay





Phil Hughes






5 More Wins - Currently at 15 wins... May be a reach, but a dazzling September could send them into the Cy Young stratosphere. NOTHING can go wrong.

Clay Buchholz





Tim Hudson





Carl Pavano





David Price





6 More Wins - Currently at 14... OK, damn near impossible. But if they go on a winning streak and maybe the manager gives them an extra start down the stretch... maybe?

Ricky Nolasco





Bronson Arroyo





Justin Verlander





C. J. Wilson





Trevor Cahill





Ervin Santana





Chris Carpenter





Jon Lester





That is 17 potential 20 game winners (some MUCH more likely than others.)

Now there were no 20 game winners last year.
Since the leagues expanded to 3 divisions in 1994, most teams have 5 man rotations, pitch counts and bullpen specialization that cuts down on the big win totals.

Going backwards from last year, here are the number of 20 game winners for each year back to 1994.


2009 – 0
2008 – 4 (Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, Mike Mussina, Roy Halladay)
2007 – 1 (Josh Beckett)
2006 – 0
2005 – 4 (Dontrelle Willis, Bartolo Colon, Chris Carpenter, Roy Oswalt)
2004 – 3 (Curt Schilling, Roy Oswalt, Johan Santana)
2003 – 5 (Roy Halladay, Russ Ortiz, Esteban Loaiza, Andy Pettitte, Jamie Moyer)
2002 – 6 (Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe, Pedro Martinez, Bartolo Colon)
2001 – 7 (Curt Schilling, Matt Morris, Mark Mulder, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Jamie Moyer, Jon Lieber)
2000 – 4 (Tom Glavine, Tim Hudson, David Wells, Darryl Kile)
1999 – 3 (Pedro Martinez, Mike Hampton, Jose Lima)
1998 – 4 (Roger Clemens, David Cone, Rick Helling, Tom Glavine)
1997 – 4 (Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Denny Neagle, Brad Radke)
1996 – 3 (John Smoltz, Andy Pettitte, Pat Hentgen)
1995 – 0
1994 – 0


1994 and 1995 were shortened seasons due to the labor strife (although Greg Maddux and Mike Mussina won 19 in '95... all the more impressive that it was a 144 game season.)

But there were some seasons with quite a few 20 game winners... topping out at 7 in 2001.

Going back even further, here are the last time there were higher numbers of 20 game winners in a season.

Last time with 8 twenty game winners– 1978
(Ron Guidry, Mike Caldwell, Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry, Dennis Leonard, Ed Figueroa, Ross Grimsley, Dennis Eckersley)

Last time with 9 twenty game winners – 1977
(Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Rick Reuschel, Bob Forsch, John Candelaria, Tommy John, Dave Goltz, Dennis Leonard)

Last time with 11 twenty game winners– 1974
(Catfish Hunter, Fergie Jenkins, Nolan Ryan, Luis Tiant, Mike Cuellar, Steve Busby, Jim Kaat, Gaylord Perry, Andy Messersmith, Wilber Wood, Phil Niekro)

Last time with 13 twenty game winners– 1973
(Ron Bryant, Wilber Wood, Joe Coleman, Jim Palmer, Catfish Hunter, Ken Holtzman, Nolan Ryan, Bill Singer, Paul Splittorff, Bert Blyleven, Vida Blue, Luis Tiant, Jim Colborn)

Last time with 14 twenty game winners– 1971
(Mickey Lolich, Vida Blue, Fergie Jenkins, Wilbur Wood, Catfish Hunter, Dave McNally, Andy Messersmith, Jom Palmer, Steve Carlton, Pat Dobson, Al Downing, Joe Coleman, Tom Seaver, Mike Cuellar)

Last time with 15 twenty game winners– 1969
(Tom Seaver, Denny McLain, Mike Cuellar, Phil Niekro, Juan Marichal, Fergie Jenkins, Dave Boswell, Mel Stottlemyre, Larry Dierker, Claude Osteen, Bill Singer, Jim Perry, Bill Hands, Dave McNally, Bob Gibson)

Last time with 17 twenty game winners– 1920
(Grover Cleveland Alexander, Wilbur Cooper, Burleigh Grimes, Art Nehf, Fred Toney, Jesse Barnes, Spittin’ Bill Doak, Jim Bagby, Carl Mays, Stan Coveleski, Red Faber, Lefty Williams, Eddie Cicotte, Dickey Kerr, Ray Caldwell, Bob Shawkey, Urban Shocker)

You read those names right... two of the condemned 1919 Black Sox were on the list the last time there were 17 twenty game winners!

1920, back when Babe Ruth was a NEW acquisition for the Yankees.

Now are all 17 going to come through.
Probably not... but with pitching taking center stage again, I wouldn't mind seeing a few 20 game winners, even if it isn't the barometer of greatness it used to be.

Adam Wainwright continues to show his amazing generosity

Once again, Adam Wainwright could have taken all momentum of the Cy Young award, put it under his wing and make it his to lose.

Instead he lost his 3rd straight chance to win his 18th.
His ERA jumped from 2.18 to 2.30 and he only lasted 5 innings against the Nats and the Cardinals have fallen to 4 games back in the loss column.

Aces are supposed to face sub par teams and STOP losing streaks.

Instead Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Carpenter and Tim Hudson are all still hanging around with Cy Young ambitions and you are keeping their hope alive.

Man... he is nice, isn't he?

Adam Wainwright. Don't you WANT to win the Cy Young?

Seriously... you had the chance to take the prohibitive lead in the Cy Young. A chance for your 18th win. A chance to bring the ole ERA closer to 2.00.

And the Cardinals gave you the lead against the Pirates... if there is a worse team, then they don't play in the majors.

And yeah you went 7 innings, but you couldn't hold onto the lead and let up 4 runs to the lowly Bucs.

I like the Cy Young race being interesting... but I wouldn't mind seeing someone take charge.

Adam Wainwright just couldn't make this easy, could he?

Adam Wainwright went into tonight's game as the only starting pitcher with qualifying innings to have a sub 2.00 ERA. He was tied with the league lead in wins with 17 and had the lowest WHIP and the second lowest bating average against.

And he did all of that with the fourth highest innings count in the National League.

Well after tonight, he has the second highest win total and still leads the league in all the above categories. And he pitched well... well enough to win 9 out of 10 games.

But his ERA crept above 2 and his win total is stagnant. And Halladay, Jimenez and yes Tim Hudson are still hanging around.

Oh yeah, Josh Johnson won again.

This isn't ending any time soon.

Is THAT anyway to try and win a Cy Young Award?

Seriously, Josh Johnson... it wasn't that long ago that you were a trendy Cy Young front runner choice. And going into today's game against a recently swept Reds team, you had a 1.97 ERA, best among big league starters.

But with Adam Wainwright on your tail in the ERA lead, it was critical to post a good win against Cincy.

3 2/3 innings, 10 hits and 6 earned runs later, your ERA is all the way up to 2.27, giving Wainwright the league lead in wins, ERA and WHIP.

Now Johnson is only a trendy pick for the Cy Young in the Johnson household.

In fact, Braves star Tim Hudson may have leap frogged Johnson among Cy Young contenders.

Dust yourself off Josh and get back in it... the most intriguing Cy Young race I have ever seen continues.

It's ANYONE'S Division to win but Wainwright's Cy Young to lose

I am sure this is not how Brandon Phillips saw this series unfold... The Reds went from 2 up to 1 back... and Cincinnati has 47 games to get back on track.

If they don't they can look squarely at this weekend as a big time lost opportunity... when they showed they couldn't play with the big boys.

The Reds are part of my "Less Than Magnificent Seven"... the seven teams that went from 2000 to 2009 without making the post season once.

They can get off the schnide with a division title in a month and a half... and the lead in the NL Central hasn't been more than 2 games since May 9th with the exception of one day where the Reds opened up a 3 game lead.

In other words, a tradition filled midwestern team that has a lot of red in their uniform will be playing in October this year... your guess is as good as mine as which one.

But despite Ubaldo Jimene's solid performance last night in New York, Adam Wainwright at this point has to be the Cy Young winner.

He came up big in today's big game that put the Cardinals in first by themselves.

He's matched Jimenez's 17 wins... his ERA has joined Josh Johnson as sub 2.00. Wainwright's 1.99 ERA trailed Johnson's league leading ERA by 0.02 points.

His 0.97 WHIP is the lowest in the league.

His 176 1/3 innings pitched is second only to Roy Halladay. His batting average against is third in the league.

It's an amazing year for aces, and a strong August and September could put Jimenez, Johnson, Halladay and even Lincecum into the winner's circle.

But right now, it needs to be wrestled from Wainwright.

Adam Wainwright... Cy Young front runner?

It seems like Ubaldo Jimenez has been the front runner for the Cy Young Award for so long that it almost seemed silly to look at other candidates.

And then suddenly we all looked up and Josh Johnson somehow passed him on the radar.

Well now it is looking more and more like Wainwright is the one to vote for.

Last night he threw another complete game shutout (he is second in the league for both complete games and shutouts to Roy Halladay)... which gives him 16 wins (second to Jimenez's 17 wins) an ERA of 2.07 (second to Josh Johnson's 1.96) a WHIP of 1.00 (second to Mat Latos's 0.99) in 169 innings pitched (second to Roy Halladay's 178).

(His 154 strikeouts puts him in third in the NL... it was almost so perfectly lined up.)

Being #2 in so many categories should put him #1 in the Cy Young vote... at least at this juncture.

Now a dominating August and September could put Jimenez back on top... or Johnson... or even Halladay.

Wainwright already has the ultimate team highlight... clinching the 2006 World Series. Now to snag the top individual achievement.

He's in second place so many times that he might have to be in first.

How many All Star selections do I agree with?

The All Star selections this year have been some of the strangest and bringing around the most controversy of any year I can remember.

With each roster at 35 players, there really shouldn't be any MAJOR controversy. The top players should be in there and the arguments should be over fringe players.

Alas, this year there are some whoppers of omissions, including Joey Votto, who I had as the starting DH for the National League, and Paul Konerko and Kevin Youkilis, who are both having amazing years.

Now all three are on the "pick the final player" poll (or whatever it is called) but they should have to sing for their supper. They should be in, no questions asked.

Some players that got in that I didn't pick I have no problem with... Matt Thornton, Phil Hughes, Jose Valverde... all having nice years.

And I didn't include David Ortiz nor Victor Martinez on MY list, so I guess you can't accuse me of excessive Red Sox bias!

But I'm not saying anything that isn't taking up hours of talk radio time right now.
I suppose that's why I listed my All Star Roster ahead of the release of the real rosters.

That way I can show it wasn't second guessing. (Although I forgot that Troy Tulowitzki was on the Disabled List. Whoops.)

So let's see which All Stars I agreed with and which ones I didn't.

American League All Stars that I picked as well

(The players voted in by fans)

ROBINSON CANO, Yankees

CARL CRAWFORD, Rays

VLADIMIR GUERRERO, Rangers

JOSH HAMILTON, Rangers

DEREK JETER, Yankees

EVAN LONGORIA, Rays

JOE MAUER, Twins

JUSTIN MORNEAU, Twins

ICHIRO SUZUKI, Mariners

(Pitchers and Reserves That I Also Picked)

ELVIS ANDRUS, Rangers

ADRIAN BELTRE, Red Sox

CLAY BUCHHOLZ, Red Sox

JOHN BUCK, Blue Jays

MIGUEL CABRERA, Tigers

TREVOR CAHILL, A's

TORII HUNTER, Angels

IAN KINSLER, Rangers

CLIFF LEE, Mariners

JON LESTER, Red Sox
ANDY PETTITTE, Yankees

DAVID PRICE, Rays

MARIANO RIVERA, Yankees

C. C. SABATHIA, Yankees

JOAKIM SORIA, Royals

VERNON WELLS, Blue Jays

American League Players I chose
but didn't make the All Star Roster

ANDREW BAILEY, A's

SHIN SOO CHOO, Indians

FELIX HERNANDEZ, Mariners

PAUL KONERKO, White Sox

COLBY LEWIS, Rangers

NICK MARKAKIS, Orioles

MIKE NAPOLI, Angels

JARED WEAVER, Angels

KEVIN YOUKILIS, Red Sox

American League Players that made
the All Star Roster that I DIDN'T pick

JOSE BAUTISTA, Blue Jays

FAUSTO CARMONA, Indians

NEFTALI FELIZ, Rangers

PHIL HUGHES, Yankees

VICTOR MARTINEZ, Red Sox

DAVID ORTIZ, Red Sox

ALEX RODRIGUEZ, Yankees

MATT THORNTON, White Sox

JOSE VALVERDE, Tigers

TY WIGGINTON, Orioles

National League All Stars that I picked as well

(The players voted in by fans)

RYAN BRAUN, Brewers
ANDRE ETHIER, Dodgers
YADIER MOLINA, Cardinals
ALBERT PUJOLS, Cardinals
HANLEY RAMIREZ, Marlins
DAVID WRIGHT, Mets

(Pitchers and Reserves That I Also Picked)

MARLON BYRD, Cubs
ADRIAN GONZALEZ, Padres
ROY HALLADAY, Phillies
COREY HART, Brewers
RYAN HOWARD, Phillies
TIM HUDSON, Braves

UBALDO JIMENEZ, Rockies
JOSH JOHNSON, Marlins
TIM LINCECUM, Giants
BRIAN McCANN, Braves
BRANDON PHILLIPS, Reds
SCOTT ROLEN, Reds
TROY TULOWITZKI, Rockies
ADAM WAINWRIGHT, Cardinals

National League Players I chose
but didn't make the All Star Roster

HEATH BELL, Padres
R. A. DICKEY, Mets
JAIME GARCIA, Cardinals
DAN HAREN, Diamondbacks
MAT LATOS, Padres
MIGUEL OLIVO, Rockies
ROY OSWALT, Astros
COLBY RASMUS, Cardinals
STEPHEN STRASBURG, Nationals
JOEY VOTTO, Reds
BILLY WAGNER, Braves
JAYSON WERTH, Phillies

National League Players that made
the All Star Roster that I DIDN'T pick

MICHAEL BOURN, Astros
JONATHAN BROXTON, Dodgers
MATT CAPPS, Nationals
CHRIS CARPENTER, Cardinals
YOVANI GALLARDO, Brewers
MATT HOLLIDAY, Cardinals
OMAR INFANTE, Braves
EVAN MEEK, Pirates
JOSE REYES, Mets
ARTHUR RHODES, Reds
BRIAN WILSON, Giants
CHRIS YOUNG, Diamondbacks


I am voting for Joey Votto and Kevin Youkilis for the final roster spot... although with Youk going down we might have the sore sight of All Star Nick Swisher.

TO BE CONTINUED

THE CY YOUNG DOZEN

I know I have written about the NL Cy Young race a bit, but I truly find it to be fascinating. Yeah, it is early, but I don’t recall the last time I have seen this many legit candidates all get out of the gate so quickly. And as someone who loves dominating stud pitchers, this year in the NL seems to be a bumper crop!

Nobody in the AL is dominating like the top NL pitchers, and the usual suspects (Verlander, Sabathia, Lester, Beckett, Hernadnez, Greinke) aren’t putting up numbers the way that the NL’s top 12 are.

2006 wasn’t that long ago that the National League honored Brandon Webb with the Cy Young award for his solid but not exactly eye popping season.

This year? I doubt if Webb had the same season in 2010 that he would crack the top 5 when all is said and done.

I’ve counted 12 pitchers who are either former Cy Young winners off to solid starts, true aces who are dominating and a few guys whose careers looked over by the end of last year who are coming out blazing.

And this list of 12 doesn’t even include former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter, nor dark horse candidate Ricky NolascoBoth have shown moments of brilliance, as has reliever Matt Capps. But this top 12 is a hard party to crack.


Let’s list them…


Tim Lincecum

I truly believe if he can deliver a World Series title to San Francisco he will be the third biggest star in San Francisco sports history. He seems hellbent to make it 3 Cy Young Awards before his 27th birthday. He would have win #5 this afternoon if Brian Wilson could have held onto the 9th inning lead. Yet he still has a 1.27 ERA and leads the league in strikeouts. I guess that whole pot thing really slowed him down.


Ubaldo Jimenez

He is the first pitcher since Jack Morris in 1984 to start the season 5-0 with a no hitter. He is second in the league in innings pitched and has held opponents to a 0.79 ERA and a .186 average against. Oh yeah, he’s doing all of that in COLORADO!


Roy Halladay

Even with a loss the other day, Halladay is throwing like he wants Cy Young #2. Nobody has pitched more innings in the NL. He has 2 complete games and a shutout and his ERA is 1.80. And 5 of his 8 earned runs came in one start. I think it is safe to say it was a good pick up for Philadelphia.


Adam Wainwright

He has the second lowest WHIP in the league and been an innings eater with a pair of complete games. He also has a tiny 1.69 ERA and a .187 batting average against to go with his 3 wins.



Johan Santana

Santana had one truly lousy game against the Washington Nationals in early April where he let up 5 runs, 4 on a grand slam by Josh Willingham. He has let up a grand total of 3 other earned runs all season. He has a 3-1 record and even with the rocky start against Washington, has a more than respectable 2.08 ERA and has not let up more than 1 run in 4 of his 5 starts.

Mike Pelfrey

With all of these great performances out of the gate, do you know who LEADS the NL in ERA? That would by Pelfry, whose ERA is impressive (and snicker worthy) at 0.69. Throw in his 4-0 record and coming out of the bullpen to save the Mets 20 inning marathon and he deserves at least entry to the dance.



Dan Haren

Who is second in the league for strikeouts behind Lincecum? Surprise! It’s Haren who has 38 in 34 innings of work. His ERA is a mediocre 4.50 but he’s been winning games (3-1 record), been eating up innings (third in IP behind Jimenez and Halladay) and has only 8 walks in 5 starts.


Josh Johnson

The Marlins well paid ace got out of the gate slowly but has been showing his ace stuff lately, especially after a complete game 3 hitter with 12 strikeouts and one walk against the Padres on April 26th. He is now third in the league in strikeouts.



Barry Zito

Remember when Barry Zito was on everyone’s short list for worst free agent contracts? Well now he is off to a 3-0 start and is averaging nearly 7 innings a start while posting a 1.32 ERA. Oh, by the way… his .161 batting average against is the lowest in the National League! Not bad for a crummy contract.


Livan Hernandez

Yes. It’s the same Livan Hernandez. An after thought starting pitcher on a potentially god awful Nationals team, the beneficiary of the Late Eric Gregg’s strike zone has won 3 of his first 4 decisions including a complete game shutout. His 0.87 ERA and .176 Batting Average Against are both third best in the league and his WHIP is 4th best. Will he keep that up? Who am I to say?


Brad Penny

The same Brad Penny who was run out of Boston on a rail is 3-0 in St. Louis this year. His 0.94 ERA is 4th best in the league. He has gone at least 7 innings in all 4 of his starts and has yet to let up more than 2 runs in any of them.

Another headcase solved by Dave Duncan!


Carlos Silva

One team’s garbage is another team’s treasure. Dumped into Chicago from Seattle in exchange for lunatic Milton Bradley, the Cubs may have stolen a winner…or least rejuvenated a talented pitcher with a fresh start. In 4 starts and 26 innings, Silva has the lowest WHIP in the league, plus a tiny 1.73 ERA and the fourth lowest Batting Average Against in the NL. Throw in a 2-0 record and a 5-1 strikeout to walk ratio and the Cubs may have more than coffee grounds from Seattle. Meanwhile Bradley is flopping as a .204 hitter flipping off fans with the Mariners.


So it will be interesting to see how many of these dozen remain Cy Young contenders month to month... I am guessing pitchers like Santana and Johnson will see their numbers improve and the Pennys and the Silvas would come back to Earth.

But who knows? I guess YOU picked Zack Greinke to win the Cy Young last year!