Young Guns (Vol. I)

Today marks the first of what I’m hoping becomes the monthly Young Guns series. The first week of every month I will examine the top young arms in both the American and National League. My basis for these rankings? I will use a mixture of fantasy baseball statistics and common sense. In other words, if I were a GM, where would I rank these young hurlers?

NO BRAINERS

1. Johan Santana – Only 6-5 so far this year, but the guy’s body of work is unquestionable.
2. Jake Peavy – San Diego’s strikeout machine is finally healthy & he looks terriffic.
3. Roy Halladay – He got roughed up last night, but Roy is still 5-2 with 46:10 K:BB ratio.
4. CC Sabathia – He’s the league leader in wins with 9 & he picked up a CG shutout last night.
5. Roy Oswalt – The Astros ace is sometimes overlooked, but imagine if he had any run support.

American League

1. Jeremy Bonderman – Take a look at his season thus far, he should be at least 8-1 right now.
2. Dan Haren – He has a 70:21 K:BB ratio and still boasts a 1.70 ERA. Wow!
3. Justin Verlander – Not the strikeout pitcher some thought he might turn into.
4. John Lackey – 9-3 record with a 2.73 ERA for the unheralded right-hander.
5. James Shields – Forget Scott Kazmir, this kid is the Devil-Rays ace by far.

National League

1. Cole Hamels – Sky’s the limit for Cole who I see as a future Cy Young winner.
2. Brandon Webb – The reigning Cy Young is an innings eater who flys under the radar.
3. Chris Young – They say that at 6′10′ his 89 mph fastball looks more like 99 mph coming at you.
4. Tim Lincecum – If you take away his two outings against the Phillies, Timmy’s numbers are scary good.
5. Oliver Perez – Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson might just be Yoda.

 

Notable Omissions

Dice-K, Rich Harden, King Felix, Dontrelle Willis, Carlos Zamprano & Ben Sheets

Shorty is creator and lead writer of Milk Was a Bad Choice…