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by Matthew Whipps
If history has taught us anything, it is that good pitching has become more and more important in the world of Major League Baseball. With short playoff series, less and less quality innings being pitched, and bigger and better hitters, finding a gem to crown as the “ace” of your pitching staff is becoming a daunting task. That’s why whenever you witness a team that is able to lump two star pitchers together at the top of their rotation, you have to step back and admire their tenacity.
While we have seen many outstanding 1-2 punches throughout the years, 2008 will bring us three new tandems that will automatically make their respective teams a contender. So today we will take a look at these three new tag teams with brief scouting reports on what exactly makes them so special - both individually and as a pair - in what will help assure that their team will be in the hunt this October.
Brandon Webb & Dan Haren, Arizona DiamondbacksThis winter, Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes dipped deep into his farm system and plucked out six players to hand over to the Oakland A’s. All Arizona got back was one of the best young pitchers in the game today. Dan Haren (15-9, 3.07 ERA, 192 SO, 5.9% BB/PA), who would be the ace on most pitching staffs, is now nestled in right behind a man named Brandon Webb (18-10, 3.01, 194 SO, 7.4% BB/PA) who himself is considered to be one of the top pitchers in baseball.
Webb is a fantastic ground ball pitcher (64% GB%) with a long 3/4 delivery. He relies very heavily on a sinking fastball (88-91 mph) that darts down in the strike zone much the way a splitter would. He is able to generate a lot of grounders thanks to his sinker and his ability to pitch it very well to both sides of the plate for strikes. Webb will also mix in a slurvy breaking ball and circle-change that fades away from left handed hitters. When he’s on, he’s dominant. When he’s off, it’s because he lost the strike zone due to all the action generated from his sinker. Overall he’s one of the best pitchers in the game today.
With Haren, you get a smooth 3/4 delivery with a long stride. His repertoire includes a low-90’s fastball (90-93 mph) with excellent movement late and down in the strike zone. He also has a curveball that can change speeds and breaks which helps Haren keep hitters off guard. Even if they are expecting the pitch, they often aren’t able to decipher which variation of the curve it is. His strikeout pitch is his deadly splitter that bites late and deep and is virtually unhittable when it's on.
Both of these men have an excellent selection of pitches. Both are also work horses and have logged 200+ innings over each the past three years. When Arizona acquired Haren from the A’s, they locked in an incredible 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation that they haven’t seen since the days of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.
Erik Bedard & Felix Hernandez, Seattle MarinersThere has been a ton of hype in Seattle surrounding Felix Hernandez (14-7, 3.92 ERA, 165 SO, 6.6% BB/PA) and his need to live up to the nickname “King Felix.” 2007 finally saw him make strides toward that moniker as he displayed flashes of brilliance. But now, as we enter the 2008 season, “King Felix” has had the pressure to carry his club lifted off his shoulders with the dominant lefty Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16 ERA, 221 SO, 7.8% BB/PA) taking over the top spot in the rotation. For starters, Bedard has a nice clean delivery with a big hip and shoulder turn and finishes off at a 3/4 arm slot. He posseses four pitches in his repertoire including a sinking and tailing fastball (90-94 mph), a dirty cutter (89-92 mph) that saws off righties, a well disguised change, and a tight curveball. He has the confidence to throw the change in any count and likes to throw his curve in the dirt with two strikes to get hitters to chase. Bedard is one of the best lefties in the game. Then you have Hernandez and his electric stuff. He has a clean, over-the-top delivery with a very loose arm. Felix throws a plus fastball (94-97 mph) with life anywhere in the strike zone. To enhance that fastball, he adds a hard, late breaking slider, curveball and excellent changeup. From what I’ve seen, if Hernandez were to come in off the plate more on hitters (particularly righties), he would have an easier time setting them up for his hard slider away. Regardless, we should see Hernandez take the next step in his maturity this season. As I mentioned earlier, Hernandez should mature even further this season. That, coupled with the fact that both he and Bedard will be pitching at home in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field, should really help their numbers and make it very difficult to beat the top half of the Mariners rotation. Seattle’s surprise run of last season won’t be a surprise in 2008 as they take on the Angels for the American League West crown. Johan Santana & Pedro Martinez, New York MetsWhen the New York Mets robbed the Minnesota Twins like a thief in the night to obtain the best starter in baseball, it instantly made them a prime contender in the National League. It’s not often you see a team acquire the best pitcher in the game, like Johan Santana (15-13, 3.33 ERA, 235 SO, 5.9% BB/PA), and then pair him with a future Hall of Famer, like Pedro Martinez (3-1, 2.57 ERA, 32 SO, 5.5% BB/PA), to create a tandem that can beat just about anyone. Santana brings some of the most wicked stuff in baseball. He has an outstanding delivery with an excellent arm angle that allows him to throw all his pitches from the same release point. His fastball sits between 89-94 mph with great action both up and down in the strike zone. Coupled with his fastball is a late biting slider and one of the best change ups in all of baseball, one which he can throw in any count against any hitter. Most impressive has been Santana’s durability (four straight seasons of 219+ innings). Martinez, on the other hand, has seen a decline of his stuff ever since winning the World Series in 2004 with the Red Sox. While he still has an outstanding feel and impeccable control, Pedro's pitches have dropped off due to age and injuries. Despite this, he still is better than many of the pitchers in the league. His arm slot has dropped to a lower 3/4 delivery and shows almost a side arm effect at times. Since his fastball now sits in the upper-80’s, he will alter its speeds in order to make it more effective. He has the ability to throw a big bending curveball for a strike anytime he wants and mixes speeds like a star with an above average change. Even after all these years, Martinez is still one of the smartest pitchers in the game. Anytime you team up two future Hall of Famers you really can’t go wrong. When the Mets acquired Pedro before the 2005 season they thought they finally had the ace they needed so desperately. But injury problems have kept him off the mound much more than they could have expected. That’s why the acquisition of Santana is so big for a franchise that has been thirsty for an ace for years. So what better way to quench that thirst than to pick up the best pitcher in baseball? Once again I will reiterate just how important it is for teams to have solid, reliable starting pitching. These three organizations are examples of teams who recognize this. They have seen others get burned in the past for falling short on the mound. The difference, now, is that they are doing everything in their power to acquire quality pitching and put their team in the best position possible to capture a World Series ring. Wouldn’t you? |
