MLB: Who are these guys?
I heard they gave out the Stanley Cup and the Larry O?Brien Trophy earlier this week. I missed both games ? I was too busy thinking about baseball.
One look at Thursday?s schedule, and you?ll be thinking ?Dwyane Who?? You?ve got the return of ?Rocket? Roger Clemens to the Houston Astros lineup to face rookie phenom Francisco Liriano and the Minnesota Twins. A.J. Burnett also comes off the disabled list to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays as they try to get back to their winning ways against Horacio Ramirez and the stumbling Atlanta Braves. Throw in the likes of Pedro Martinez, Scott Kazmir and Felix Hernandez, and Thursday looks like a good day to bet the UNDER.
But wait, there?s more. We all know about the guys I just mentioned. I?m going to take a moment to look at three of the other, lesser-known players taking the mound Thursday. I have a feeling all three of these names will become household-quality before too long.
Anthony Reyes, St. Louis Cardinals: Coming out of spring training, Sir Sidney Ponson was named the fifth starter in the Cards rotation. That lasted longer than many people thought, but two poor starts in the month of June have prompted St. Louis to move Ponson to the bullpen. The move gives Reyes another chance to stick with the big club.
Reyes is just another example of how messed up the Major League Baseball draft is. The Cards were able to grab the 6-foot-2 right-hander from USC in the 15th round of the 2003 draft. It didn?t take long for Reyes to become the top prospect in the St. Louis farm system. The California native throws four pitches, including a 96-mph fastball that terrorized batters in the Pacific Coast League. Reyes drew 9.5 strikeouts (and just 2.4 walks) per nine innings pitched last year at AAA-Memphis.
Reyes is the probable starter when the Cards visit Freddy Garcia and the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. Eastern Time. Garcia is having a relatively bad month with a 1.58 WHIP in three starts, although the Pale Hose won twice.
Scott Olsen, Florida Marlins: Break up the Fish! OK, the Marlins aren?t about to win the World Series again (or are they?), but their latest rebuilding effort is already paying dividends. Check out this Olsen kid. He?s already jumped into the Top 10 among starting pitchers as far as handicapping is concerned, getting the Marlins to the pay window in eight of 12 starts and earning 6.2 units for Florida backers.
Olsen, a southpaw from Kalamazoo, has been Florida?s No. 2-ranked prospect behind Jeremy Hermida for the past couple of years. Like Reyes, Olsen is a fastball-slider pitcher, although Reyes appears to have better command of the strike zone. That hasn?t stopped Olsen from posting quality starts in each of his last four appearances. His groundball-to-flyball ratio over that span was nearly 2-1, and his strikeout-walk ratio was over 4-1. I?d say that qualifies as good command.
Olsen is matched up against Kris Benson and the Baltimore Orioles, starting at 7:05 p.m. Eastern. Benson has been very good this month with a 1.19 WHIP in four quality starts. And you may have heard about his wife.
Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates: Another rookie, another lefty ? except Maholm hasn?t gotten off to a great start in his first full season. He has an unsightly 1.73 WHIP after 14 appearances for the Pirates; they won just six of those games, creating a deficit of just over half a unit for anyone with the stones to bet on Pittsburgh every time Maholm takes the hill.
Maholm came into 2006 as the No. 4-ranked prospect on the Pirates, behind Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Tom Gorzelanny. But Maholm looked every bit the blue-chipper in six starts with the big club last year, posting a 1.16 WHIP to lead all Pirates hurlers ? yes, even wunderkind Zach Duke and his 1.20 WHIP. Now Maholm, Duke and the entire Pittsburgh rotation are in a funk.
The man from Missouri needs to find the command he showed last year and in the minors. With just an 88-mph fastball as part of his four-pitch arsenal, Maholm is about location, location and location. He?ll get to work on that some more when he faces Scott Elarton and the Kansas City Royals in a 2:10 p.m. Eastern affair. Elarton is clinging to a job in the majors; he?s coming off his first quality start in nine games.
--Perry
BetWWTS.com
I heard they gave out the Stanley Cup and the Larry O?Brien Trophy earlier this week. I missed both games ? I was too busy thinking about baseball.
One look at Thursday?s schedule, and you?ll be thinking ?Dwyane Who?? You?ve got the return of ?Rocket? Roger Clemens to the Houston Astros lineup to face rookie phenom Francisco Liriano and the Minnesota Twins. A.J. Burnett also comes off the disabled list to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays as they try to get back to their winning ways against Horacio Ramirez and the stumbling Atlanta Braves. Throw in the likes of Pedro Martinez, Scott Kazmir and Felix Hernandez, and Thursday looks like a good day to bet the UNDER.
But wait, there?s more. We all know about the guys I just mentioned. I?m going to take a moment to look at three of the other, lesser-known players taking the mound Thursday. I have a feeling all three of these names will become household-quality before too long.
Anthony Reyes, St. Louis Cardinals: Coming out of spring training, Sir Sidney Ponson was named the fifth starter in the Cards rotation. That lasted longer than many people thought, but two poor starts in the month of June have prompted St. Louis to move Ponson to the bullpen. The move gives Reyes another chance to stick with the big club.
Reyes is just another example of how messed up the Major League Baseball draft is. The Cards were able to grab the 6-foot-2 right-hander from USC in the 15th round of the 2003 draft. It didn?t take long for Reyes to become the top prospect in the St. Louis farm system. The California native throws four pitches, including a 96-mph fastball that terrorized batters in the Pacific Coast League. Reyes drew 9.5 strikeouts (and just 2.4 walks) per nine innings pitched last year at AAA-Memphis.
Reyes is the probable starter when the Cards visit Freddy Garcia and the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. Eastern Time. Garcia is having a relatively bad month with a 1.58 WHIP in three starts, although the Pale Hose won twice.
Scott Olsen, Florida Marlins: Break up the Fish! OK, the Marlins aren?t about to win the World Series again (or are they?), but their latest rebuilding effort is already paying dividends. Check out this Olsen kid. He?s already jumped into the Top 10 among starting pitchers as far as handicapping is concerned, getting the Marlins to the pay window in eight of 12 starts and earning 6.2 units for Florida backers.
Olsen, a southpaw from Kalamazoo, has been Florida?s No. 2-ranked prospect behind Jeremy Hermida for the past couple of years. Like Reyes, Olsen is a fastball-slider pitcher, although Reyes appears to have better command of the strike zone. That hasn?t stopped Olsen from posting quality starts in each of his last four appearances. His groundball-to-flyball ratio over that span was nearly 2-1, and his strikeout-walk ratio was over 4-1. I?d say that qualifies as good command.
Olsen is matched up against Kris Benson and the Baltimore Orioles, starting at 7:05 p.m. Eastern. Benson has been very good this month with a 1.19 WHIP in four quality starts. And you may have heard about his wife.
Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh Pirates: Another rookie, another lefty ? except Maholm hasn?t gotten off to a great start in his first full season. He has an unsightly 1.73 WHIP after 14 appearances for the Pirates; they won just six of those games, creating a deficit of just over half a unit for anyone with the stones to bet on Pittsburgh every time Maholm takes the hill.
Maholm came into 2006 as the No. 4-ranked prospect on the Pirates, behind Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Tom Gorzelanny. But Maholm looked every bit the blue-chipper in six starts with the big club last year, posting a 1.16 WHIP to lead all Pirates hurlers ? yes, even wunderkind Zach Duke and his 1.20 WHIP. Now Maholm, Duke and the entire Pittsburgh rotation are in a funk.
The man from Missouri needs to find the command he showed last year and in the minors. With just an 88-mph fastball as part of his four-pitch arsenal, Maholm is about location, location and location. He?ll get to work on that some more when he faces Scott Elarton and the Kansas City Royals in a 2:10 p.m. Eastern affair. Elarton is clinging to a job in the majors; he?s coming off his first quality start in nine games.
--Perry
BetWWTS.com
