It would be difficult to count how many pitching prospects have not worked out. Many of them with great hype, and some came seemingly out of nowhere. As a general manager all you can do is put faith in your scouts and your own eye, because no amateur or minor league numbers can compare to pitching on a big league mound. Zack Greinke found that out the hard way and struggled mightily. One thing was unique about Greinke's struggles though, and it never really gave him a chance to shine like the pitcher he was all along.
He dealt with some personal mental issues. He saw a doctor about it and received medication to deal with the disorder and from every count it seemed to unleash every burden that had held him back previously. In essence, he should have left a memo with the rest of the American League that said "I hope you enjoyed the hits", because next season Greinke was a completely different pitcher and a different guy.
"The Royals are 1-7 in Greinke's eight no-decisions, despite the fact that he has a 1.95 ERA in those starts (12 earned runs in 55 1/3 innings) and that he left with a lead on four occasions (4 blown saves). He has been shut out four times, three in losses and once in a no-decision. He has a 1.05 ERA in his 15 starts the club has won (14 wins for him) and an opponents batting average of .196 in those games. The club has scored 13 runs in his 8 losses (1.63 per game) and 30 runs in his 16 starts that have wound up a loss or no-decision (1.88 per game). He became the fourth major league pitcher since 1900 to follow a 15-strikeout game with a one-hitter, matching Vida Blue (1971), Randy Johnson (1998) and Pedro Martinez (1999). He will enter his final three starts 20 strikeouts shy of the club record of 244 set by Dennis Leonard in 1977."
Not satisfied yet? Here are Greinke's numbers out of all the pitchers in the AL this season.
This comes from Buster Olney's Blog on ESPN.com As you can see he was not only dominant in his own league, but across the entire game he was absolutely dominant across the board.
This does not factor in how many times I saw this season (thanks to MLB extra innings) that Greinke would give up 1 ER in the first couple of innings and it literally felt like the game was over. As amazing as it was, getting a singular run off of Greinke at one point looked like it was a morale boost for the opposition. That is where the comparisons to Randy Johnson in '98, and Pedro Martinez in '99 don't stop. When you watched them pitch, much like Greinke this entire season, you couldn't take your eyes off of the game. They were on another level. Felix Hernandez has been phenomenal, and he's another guy that you're amazed by watching, but the command that Greinke has on all of his pitches puts him at the top.This years division series went as planned, with the exception of the NL West where the Dodgers got over their end of season slump to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Not only did they beat them, but they swept! That suprised me, even though I had picked the Dodgers to win. Chris Carpeneter looked uncomfortable and did not have his usual stuff and poise. He did whatever he could though and gave his chance a team to win, they just couldn't pull it off.
Looks like the Dodgers are hot again, and it all begins with Matt Kemp hitting in the 2-hole in the lineup. If they can get Manny to contribute they will be dangerous. They key to their success, however, is if they can get any type of consistent production from Chad Billingsley. Clayton Kershaw has emerged as the staff ace, but you cannot put an entire teams hopes on the shoulders of a 21-year old pitcher. Billingsley will have to step it up, along with Randy Wolf if they're going to have a chance in a 7-game series.
The rest of the series basically went as planned. The Red Sox lost to a really good LA Angels team. The sentiment around New England is a little bit of shock, but I think most baseball fans realize that the offense they had in place would not get it done without a very effective Josh Beckett. I look forward to seeing Beckett in the coming year, since he will be in a contract year and there will be growing anticipation since the Sox did not make it to the league championship. Mark Texeira who? It's amazing that everyone can forget about Tex so quickly with the emergence of Kendry Morales. His success comes as no shock to me, because he has always had the talent and never got the chance. Now he has a chance to shine and looks like he might be the next switch hitting power threat at 1B, a la Lance Berkman comparisons!
Not much to touch upon with the Yankees/Twins series. In reality, the Twins had no chance when they lost Justin Morneau, and you could see the look on Morneau's face on the bench that he really wanted to be part of it. The Yankees face a much better opponent in the next round, however. This will be a good series and I expect it to go 6 games.
Tomorrow night the NLCS starts, I think this game is of ultimate importance to the Dodgers.
No comments:
Post a Comment