By the Heckler
BASEBALL BIG MOUTH baseball blog

A healthy crop of rookies has sprouted in both the American and National Leagues with a slew of contenders in competition for the eventual Blue Ribbon.

Heading the top of the list in the Junior circuit (appropriately) is Beantown reliever Jonathan Papelbon, the hard-throwing right-hander having converted on 15 saves opportunities – including his first 14 – along with allowing a mere one earned run thus far in 22-1/3 innings. He has also racked up 19 strikeouts in that span while walking only three batters. Papelbon looks to have solidified the Boston Red Sox bullpen at least for this season, as it seems only inevitable the talented Louisiana native will join their rotation in the not-so-distant future.

Not to be dismissed are the accomplishments thus far of Detroit’s Justin Verlander (a name not-entirely unfamiliar to regular readers of Baseball Big Mouth). The second overall pick in the 2004 draft recently out-dueled Minnesota’s Johan Santana with eight shutouts innings and has posted a 5-3 record and 3.18 ERA for the first-place Tigers. Verlander teammate Joel Zumaya, Motown’s other exciting fire-balling newcomer, has likewise turned heads this year with a blazing 100 mph heater that he’s turned into 22 Ks in only 19 innings.

Another good one to keep your eye is the Twins’ Francisco Liriano (recently elevated to the starting rotation after posting an incredible 37 strikeouts in only 27.1 innings). Casey Janssen of the Toronto Blue Jays and John Koronka of the Texas Rangers are two other hurlers that similarly look to have good things ahead.

Behind the dish, Seattle Mariner catcher Kenji Johjima – a veteran of the Japanese major leagues so revered he has a museum named after him in his hometown of Sasebo – is off to a good beginning to his MLB career thus far as well, putting up a .289 average to date with 23 RBIs and five home runs. Of note, Johjima is also handling the pressure of being the first Japanese catcher in Major League history.

The Heckler’s early season pick here is Johjima, for nothing else than already-proving Japan can export more than compact cars, speedy outfielders and slick infielders (Johjima is the first Japanese catcher in Major League history).

Over in the National League, Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder (familiar to Detroit Tiger fans as the son of former slugger Cecil Fielder who, as a youngster, frequently took batting practice at old Tiger Stadium) is hitting .308 for the Brew Crew in his debut season, coupled with eight home runs and 24 RBIs. 

Florida Marlin shortstop Hanley Ramirez is off-and-hitting in his MLB career - .331 to be exact – not to mention 16 multi-hit games while adding 12 stolen bases, while teammate Josh Willingham (a catcher) hat put up 7-30-.290 numbers thus far for the Fish. Of note, Florida is also looking forward to the return of touted outfielder (and fellow rookie) Jeremy Hermida off an early-season injury.

Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman (3B), the Padres’ Josh Barfield (2B) and Arizona’s Conor Jackson (1B) are also all showing signs of staying longer than a cup of coffee in the show.

On the hill, a host of hot arms are likewise making their case for rookie of the year honors, including Houston’s Taylor Buchholz; New York’s Brian Bannister; Los Angeles’ Takashi Saito; San Diego’s Brian Sweeney and Clay Hensley; and the Rockies’ Ramon Ramirez. Look for the Mets’ Mike Pelfrey – all six-feet, seven-inches of him – to perhaps soon join the fray, with New York expected to soon call up their top pick from last year’s draft.

The son of Big Daddy gets the Heckler’s nod here, as Fielder looks to be prime for a lengthy career of eating up National League fastballs (as well as buffets throughout the entire state of Wisconsin).

source:
www.centredaily.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 21st, 2006 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Baseball News and Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.