The Colorado Rockies are almost assured of a win every fifth day, and that is when Ubaldo Jimenez pitches. Jimenez has been the best pitcher in the MLB this season, and it really hasn't been close. Jimenez has a record of 9-1 in 10 starts, and in his one loss, he gave up only one run. In his ten starts, Ubaldo has given up only 7 earned runs. Jimenez lowered his ERA to under 1.0 last week, and then last night vs. Arizona, Jimenez pitched 8 shutout innings, lowering his ERA to a mind-blowing 0.88.
In years past, Ubaldo had shown the ability to be a great pitcher, but the control issue often hurt him. In his first two full seasons in the bigs, Jimenez went 12-12 and 15-12, far from his brilliance this season. However, it appears that he has learned to pitched, and batters in the NL West are afraid. Jimenez became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 2010, when on April 17, he no-hit the Braves. Despite his 6 walks, Jimenez allowed the zero hits, and impressively was hitting the high 90s on the radar gun, despite nearly 120 pitches.
Will Jimenez continue this incredible pace? Probably not. But he will most likely be starting for the NL in the All Star Game, and if he can stay great, he can keep the Rockies in the hunt in the NL West. The NL West is certainly up for grabs, with the Padres somehow in first place. The Rockies have a team that can compete for the division, but the other starters will have to pitch better. Outside of Jimenez, no pitcher on the Rockies has more than 3 wins. Jason Hammell, Aaron Cook, and Greg Smith all have ERAs above 5.4. Luckily for the Rockies, closer Huston Street is set to return soon.
Still, a starter can be dominant, but he alone cant carry his team to the playoffs, as he only plays once every five games. So if the Rockies are gonna make the playoffs, its going to be more on the other starters. Still, Jimenez is the early Cy Young favorite in the National League.
No comments:
Post a Comment