From the South

In this post I'm not talking about the geographic south, I'm going to discuss three Cy Young Award wining south paws at different stages in their career. Left handed pitchers generally earn more money than right handed pitchers and all three of these guys will be bringing home the bread in the near future.

CC Sabathia is the first of three south paws in this post. CC will be 33 in July of this year and that means that he has officially passed his prime. He no longer has the 97 mph fastball he did when he won the Cy Young Award in 2007 with the Cleveland Indians, but he continues to pitch effectively. His fastball is steady around 90-93 mph, but now he has learned how to pitch and just not throw. Using a nasty slider and a change up in a handful of combinations, Sabathia has been able to lead the American League with 43.0 innings pitched with a 3.35 ERA. In four or five years the big man may run into troubles, but he is smart enough to pitch effectively the rest of his career, but it is for sure that he will not be in contention for a Cy Young Award in future seasons.

David Price is the second of three south paws in this post. Price will be 28 in August of this year and that means he will be entering his prime. Price can get you out in a number of ways. He can blow a 95 mph fastball by you or make you look silly on a change up. Being drafted by and brought up by the Rays, Prince knows how to pitch the right way. He can give you 200+ innings and a sub 3.00 ERA on top of that. Price win the Cy Young Award in 2012, and it shouldn't be the last of his success, but that success may not come with the Rays. Price will soon be a free agent and he is with an organization that has trouble holding onto great talent. Price will be paid a large sum of money and if it happens to be a team on the West Coast, you can expect a few great seasons from the talented lefty.

Clayton Kershaw is the third and final south paw in this post. Kershaw turned 25 in March of this year and everyone is amazed by the success he has already has. We have no idea where the limit is on the ace of the Dodgers. Three consecutive seasons with 200+ IP, a sub 3.00 ERA, and 200+ strikeouts is phenomenal for a pitcher of any age. Statistically he draws a strong comparison to Sandy Koufax and I won't blow that one out of the water, because the Hall of Fame pitcher said he liked Kershaw's stuff. Clayton won the Cy Young Award at the age of 23 and he will definitely win many more in his career, but this season Kershaw and the Dodgers are looking to win the World Series. Judging buy the way the Dodgers are spending money and Kershaw's value to the team, by the time he is a free agent in 2015, Clayton Kershaw will become the highest paid player ever.

Okay here's a bonus south paw. Turing back the clock and going back to 1995, Andy Pettitte has found the fountain of youth. The lefty will be 41 years old in June, but you would never know. His fastball sits around 87-88 mph, but he shows a masterful slider and pinpoint control. In 12 starts in 2012 Pettitte pitched to a 2.87 ERA, and now in 2013 he has pitched to a 2.22 ERA eating some innings along the way. Pettitte never won a Cy Young Award, but I'm sure he's happy with his 5 World Series victories. Also during Pettite's younger days his lowest ERA was 2.88 so its very odd to say that Dandy Andy is performing better than ever.