Young Guns

The next generation has arrived. We have all noticed that the game seems to be becoming more pitching dominant with each season. $100 MM contracts and extensions are being handed out to ace pitchers both young and old. So far in 2013 some of the best young pitchers have shined brighter than the rest. They are dominant and may become even better with age.

If you haven't heard of him already, you shouldn't call yourself a baseball fan. The Mets' 24 year old starting pitcher has made batter after batter look silly. Harvey has pitched 49.1 innings and struck out 58 batters while claiming an outstanding 1.28 ERA. I think the Mets' know how valuable Harvey actually is and will be careful with him come the end of the season. Pitching him too much could cause severe injury to a young arm. For the Mets', Harvey may be a new beginning for the team, and 2013 could mark the season where they become buyers and not sellers.

This lefty is flying under the radar. Patrick Corbin is the 23 year old stud in the rotation
for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has pitched 40 innings and struck out 32 batters with a 1.80 ERA. The Diamondbacks have a great young rotation, but of the 5 guys in the rotation, Corbin is by the best. With Kennedy, Cahill, Corbin, Miley, and McCarthy the Diamondbacks have one of the mos underrated rotations in the MLB. The point about this rotation I would like to make is that all the pitchers are under 30 years old. Because of their depth, if the Diamondbacks are in contention come the trade deadline, Corbin may be a possible trade chip for a big bat.

Shelby Miller was born in 1990, and 23 years later he is finding much success with the St. Louis Cardinals. The strong right handed pitcher has 36.2 innings under his belt. He possesses a 1.96 ERA and has struck out 38 batters. Miller has measnt a lot to the Cardinals since the injury to Chris Carpenter. He has stepped up big time and has a lot of promise for the future. Miller, Wainwright, Garcia, Lynn, and an underrated Westbrook are getting the job done in St. Louis, but Miller taking the ball every fifth ball and pitching the way he has makes the injury to Carpenter not sting so much to Cardinal fans.

He's a lean mean strike throwing machine. Matt Moore that is, he is one of the many results of the Rays' farm system. The Tampa Bay Rays have the best pitching development farm systems in baseball, but this 23 year old first round pick is successful due to his own talents. Moore has 42 innings pitched, 43 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA. One rough start in Colorado made that ERA become bloated, but you can expect it to be low the rest of the season. Moore will play a pivotal role in the Rays organization, because he will become the ace of the staff if the team decides to trade David Price or let him walk come free agency.

VOTE IN THE POLL!

A Different View

Buster Posey looking all heroic and stuff. 

There is only player on the field who faces in the opposite direction from the rest. He is covered head to toe in equipment and is undoubtedly the most athletic on the team. I am talking about the catcher; foul tips to the mask, throwing out runners from a crouch, cat like reflexes, calling a game, and of course hitting at the plate. You need to be dedicated to be a catcher, and be ready to take a beating. Here I will discuss some of the best catchers in the league and why they are so.

We have to start off with reining National Leag

ue MVP and two time World Series Champion, Buster Posey. The 26 year old back stop had a masterful year at the plate in 2012. He hit for a .336 batting average to lead the league and had an astounding 171 OPS+. Posey caught 114 games last season, nearly one-fourth  of the season and caught 30% of base stealers. Although defensive metrics are still vague, Posey had a 0.5 defensive WAR last year. Defensively Posey is right near average, but offensively he is the best there is at the position. Buster Posey's 9 year $164 MM contract is definitely a bargain for the Giants.

Beware: do not run. 

From the 2011 World Series Champions, Yadier Molina is without a doubt the best defensive catcher in baseball. In 2012 Molina guided his St. Louis Cardinals to the playoffs via the second Wild Card. For the first year in his career Molina was a strong offensive threat. He had a .315/.373/.501 slash-line which equates to a 137 OPS+. Molina played 136 out of his 138 games at the catcher's position last season, that takes extreme durability. He threw out an amazing 48% of base runners and had an outrageously high 2.6 defensive WAR. Molina's value at the catcher's position is so great that nearly 33% of his total value as a player is due to his defense.

Well played Mauer. 

Once a MVP and once a gold glove award winning catcher, Joe Mauer is no longer the catcher he was in his glory days. In 2012 he played only 74 of his 147 games as the catcher for his Minnesota Twins. Mauer still has his offensive success but not to the extent of the 28 home runs he hit in 2009. Since 2009 Mauer has not hit more than 10 home runs in a season, but he still drives in runs. In 2012 he had a .319/.416/.466 slash-line, playing in a cavern for a stadium that translates to a 140 OPS+. The downside to Joe Mauer is his defense. In 2012 he threw out just 14% of base runners. That could be due to the pitchers not holding runners well, but his -0.9 defensive WAR is another indication of decreasing defensive ability. That means he is below average defensively. I don't know if I would want to pay Mauers salary for him to not hit home runs and to be the designated hitter.

Closing Time

Entering the game in the 9th inning beginning with a slow walk, and then transitioning into a steady jog to the mound, a legend has done this a remarkable 1052 times. He does not enter to the mellow sounds of the band Semisonic, but to the heavy and hypnotizing sounds of 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica. That legend is of course, Mariano Rivera. 

As a young man growing up in Panama, Rivera had his sights on becoming a mechanic and not following in the footsteps of his father, a fisherman. Also growing up in poverty Rivera and his friends had to use milk cartons as gloves and tree branches as bats, but not once had Rivera expected to throw the last pitch in five World Series victories. Its the stuff kids dream of, but Rivera only thought of baseball as a hobby. 

Being signed as an amateur free agent in 1990 a 21 year old Mariano had a five year road to the show, finding much failure along the way. Finally in 1995 Rivera made his debut, and in 1995 he made his only 10 starts of his career. With 67 innings pitched, Rivera's rookie season was nothing close to successful  with a 5.51 ERA. Fortunately for both Rivera and the Yankees, that would be most of the failure in his career. 

Rivera would pitch 107.2 innings in 1996 with a 2.09 ERA and 130 strikeouts, finishing third in Cy Young Award balloting. In 1997 Rivera took over a closer as John Wetland went to pitch for the Texas Rangers, and Rivera ran away with it. With his new responsibility, the then 27 year old was cool, calm, and collected on the mound, but his devastating and iconic cut fastball was something wicked. 

As we skip ahead to 2012, Rivera had flirted with the idea of retirement for a number of years, but this appeared to be the year. We all expected it would be the last year the legend would pitch, but a devastating injury put him out for the entire year. The man who everyone loves tore his ACL and that ended his season, but then a reassuring quote by Rivera brought all the fans and media back to life. "I will be back." Just five words, but they meant so much to everyone. 

The man is now 43 years old and has tallied up 1230 innings, 618 saves, 1130 strikeouts, 12 all star games, 5 world series and a 2.21 ERA. He is defying time itself, by throwing his cutter at 90 miles per hour consistently with accuracy. One month into the season Rivera has continued his success and doesn't appear to have skipped a beat. He has collected 10 saves in 10 attempts while striking out 11 with a 1.74 ERA. 

Mariano Rivera is my favorite baseball player ever, his autographed baseball is my prized possession and when he enters a game, its almost certain the Yankees will have a win. 'The Sandman' put all the rumors to sleep this year in spring training and confirmed that this will be his last season. Rivera has stated that throwing his last pitch to win the World Series is how he wants his career to end, and that's the way it should end. 

The living legend has successfully closed the door 618 times, and come October, he will be closing the door on his career. 

Sayonara Mo.