[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The AL Rookie Of The Year Race
Jeff Bennett, Jeff Niemann, Scott Kazmir August 2nd. 2009, 11:14am
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: Jeff Niemann. The AL Rookie of the Year race is going to be close (see below) but Niemann is making a late charge and pitching in a pennant race is only going to help his cause. Especially if he continues to throw gems like yesterday, 8 innings, 1 run on 4 hits. Most impressive was the 7 strikeouts and no walks…Jason Bartlett. The home runs have come to a screeching halt, but the hits haven’t. His 2-run triple in the first and subsequent dash home on the throwing error was all Jeff Niemann would need…Catch-Throw-Catch-Collision. Great job by both Carl Crawford with the throw to the plate to nail a runner in the 5th and an even better job by Navi to convince the runner that the throw wasn’t going to be close. Oh by the way, Crawford added his 11th home run and already matched his career-high with his 37th walk…Jeff Bennett. The Rays added the relief pitcher earlier in the day and made his debut the same day, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced with a 92-93 mph fastball and a very nice slider.
THE BAD: Blackouts. We love Dave and Andy. Really, we do. But we prefer when we have choices.
THE TELLING: Thanks to 3 straight losses by the Yankees, the Rays are now just 5 back in the East, but still 4.5 back of Boston in the Wild Card, 2 behind the Rangers…The three leading candidates for AL Rookie of the Year are likely Brad Bergesen (7-5, 3.43 ERA, 2.3 WAR), Ricky Romero (9-4, 3.59, 1.6) and Jeff Niemann (10-5, 3.62, 1.9). Anybody we are missing?
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Today is Scott Kazmir bobblehead day. That would have been awkward had he been traded.
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Who would have ever guessed that at this point in the season, Niemann would be our most dangerous starting pitcher? He has been on fire lately!
I think the 3 closest competitors for ROY to those you mentioned are in order:
Gordon Beckham: He may not have enough playing time yet, but should by the end of the year, and he is turning a lot of heads. He too may be a critical piece in the race to the playoffs, and if he continues to do well will get quite a boost in voters’ eyes.
Andrew Bailey: He is hurt by Oakland’s position in the standings, but his numbers are close to spectacular and voters love simple stats like saves. He does not have that many yet, but is amassing them quickly and should get plenty of votes.
Elvis Andrus: While his hitting does not wow anyone, his defense is being given a lot of credit for the improvement in Texas’s pitching. I doubt he wins the award, but I am guessing he will get some votes, and again with Texas in the race, it will help his candidacy.
Porcello was slumping until his last start, and his numbers are not eye-catching, so I doubt he gets much support. And I think Brett Gardner is still eligible, and his steals will impress some as well as his reputation as a star defender in CF, but I doubt he gets much support either. My bet is on Beckham if he continues to play as he has been.
My guess is “Big-Bird”…. esp with 2-3 more complete games and 14/15 wins!
Does anyone remember our #1 draft pick…think his name was Price or something like that!
But anyway two rookies lead the way for our very “experienced staff”…. who didn’t need EJ!!