Friday, June 3, 2011

Roy Halladay SP - Tim Lincecum SP

Roy Halladay was the 17th player selected in the 1995 MLB Draft, taken by the Toronto Blue Jays. Halladay first appeared in the majors in September of 1998. In his second MLB start on September 27th versus the Detroit Tigers, Roy took a No-Hitter into the ninth inning broken up by a Bobby Higginson home run. Halladay's career was mostly down over the next few years. He sported an unwieldly 10.64 ERA in 2000 and the following year went back to Class A ball in Dunedin to try and rework his delivery. When "Doc" returned he was a new and effective pitcher. Starting in 2002 Halladay has appeared in 7 All-Star games. He has led both the A.L. and N.L. in wins and has won Cy Young Awards in both leagues. Roy has won 20 games three different years. On May 29, 2010 Halladay twirled a perfect game versus the Florida Marlins. On October 6th 2010 Roy pitched only the second no hitter in Post Season play shutting down the Cincinnati Reds.




Tim Lincecum was drafted twice but didn't sign a MLB contract opting to attend the U. of Washington. In 2006 Lincecum was chosen 10th overall in the draft by the San Francisco Giants. Tim made his MLB debut on May 6, 2007 and from that point he was up to stay. Making 24 starts in 2007 Lincecum won 7 and lost 5, averaging over a strikeout per inning. Then in 2008 Lincecum really asserted his talent. 33 starts, 18 wins with 265 K's. He was picked for the National League All-Star team and was named the 2008 N.L. Cy Young winner. He followed that up in 2009 with 15 wins, 267 K's another All-Star berth and his second Cy Young award. 2010 saw Tim win 16 games but his statistics were down slightly in other categories. He appeared to not have his good stuff on several occasions and had to pitch his way through the game rather than rely on his superior ability. This should really serve him well in future seasons.


Matt Cain SP - Justin Verlander SP

Matt Cain was selected out of Houston H.S., Germantown Tennessee in the 1st round (25th pick) of the 2002 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He debuted on August 29, 2005 versus Colorado. Matt would go on to start 7 games that season allowiing just 24 hits in 46 innings. Cain began the 2006 season in the Giants starting rotation and won 13 games leading all N.L. Rookie pitchers. Of all pitchers in the Giants rotation Cain has probably had the least support, thus his career record of 57-62. Cain is consistent pitching over 200 innings for the last four seasons and averaging less than 1 hit per inning. In 2009 Matt was named to the N.L. All-Star team amassing a 14-8 record. In '10 Cain finished sixth in the N.L. in BB+H/IP. Yet he again was barely over .500 for the weak hitting San Francisco team going 13-11. Even the Post Season was no respite. Despite starting 3 games and allowing just 13 hits in 21 innings Cain's record was just 1 win and 0 losses.

Justin Verlander out of Old Dominion was the second overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft. Taken by the Detroit Tigers his first MLB start was on July 4, 2005. Justin would have only 1 other start for the Tigers that season but moved into the starting rotation permanently in 2006. During his first full season Justin won 17 games and was voted the A.L. Rookie of the Year. In 2007 Verlander made his first All-Star game and finished with 18 wins. On June 12, 2007 Justin pitched a No-Hitter versus Milwaukee fanning 12 batters. After struggling to an 11-17 record in '08 Verlander reestablished himself in 2009. That season he won 19 games for Detroit and led the A.L. in innings with 240 and K's with 269 and was named to his second All-Star team. Justin showed that '09 was no fluke by winning 18 games in 2010 and pitched 224 innings allowing less than 1 hit per inning.






Ubaldo Jimenez SP - Jeremy Hellickson SP

Ubaldo Jimenez was signed as an amateur Free Agent at the age of 17 by the Colorado Rockies in 2001. His MLB debut occurred on September 26, 2006 as a reliever. He made his first start versus the Chicago Cubs on October 1 but received no decision. In 2007 Ubaldo pitched half the season with the Rockies starting 15 games and finishing with a 4-4 record. In 2008 Jimenez was in the starting rotation the entire year managing a 12-12 record. In 2009 Jimenez began to mature as a pitcher, improving his statistics across the board. He won 15 games, pitched 218 innings and K'd 198 batters. Ubaldo really appeared to make a jump in 2010 going 19-8, finishing third in the N.L. Cy Young voting. Jimenez was chosen for the N.L. All-Star team and was the starting pitcher. His career highlight came on April 17, 2010 when he pitched the first No-Hitter in Colorado Rockie history. Pitching in Atlanta against the Braves Jimenez was able to to hit 100 on the radar gun on a couple of occasions and in a curious development ended up the last few innings pitching exclusively from the streth to aid his control!



Jeremy Hellickson hasn't done too much at the Major League level in his young career. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 4th round of the 2005 MLB Draft. On August 2, 2010 Hellickson made his first major league start against the Minnesota Twins. In that game Jeremy went 7 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 walks while fanning 6 and got his first MLB win. Eight days later he was recalled to start a game against the Detroit Tigers. That night he went 7 innings, allowed 3 hits and fanned 7 while not allowing a walk to up his record to 2-0. A week later he faced the Orioles and gave up 3 hits in six innings improving to 3-0. These are the highlights to this point as Hellickson tries to become a permanent fixture in the Rays starting rotation.

Hellickson MLB link

Carlos Zambrano SP - Joakim Soria Closer

Carlos Zambrano is a true "Wild Card" heading into the season. Signed by the Cubs as a Free Agent in 1997, Zambrano appeared in his first MLB game on August 20, 2001 at the tender age of 20. In 2002 "Z" bounced between starting games and relief. In 2003 he was a mainstay in the rotation starting 32 games winning 13. Carlos was named a N.L. All-Star in '04, '06 & '08. Known as a good hitting pitcher, Zambrano earned Silver Slugger Awards in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and has 21 career homers. On Sept. 14, 2008 "Z" threw a No-Hitter versus the Houston Astros. Uniquely the game was played at a neutral site Miller Park in Milwaukee due to Hurricane Ike. 2010 was a struggle for the big RHP but he did finish the year on an 8-0 run with a 1.41 ERA over that span.




Joakim Soria is a classic "could have been a ____" At the age of 16 the Dodgers signed him as a Free Agent. Released by L.A. in 2005 he was signed by the S.D. Padres. Unprotected by the Padres the K.C. Royals nabbed him in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft. Pitching for the Royals in 2007 eventually won the job as their closer and saved 17 games. Joakim opened 2008 with 13 consecutive saves and was chosen to the A.L. All-Star team. Soria finished '08 with 42 saves. In 2009 Joakim saved 30 games in 33 opportunities. In 2010 Soria saved a career high 43 games and received his second All-Star selection. Joakim has a good mixture of pitches and despite not overpowering hitters with a fastball, he still has averaged 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings over his major league career.