Top 5 AL Pitchers 25 and Under

Here’s the first in a series of top 5’s we’re going to be doing here at The High Heat. In this first countdown, we’ll take a brief look at the top five pitchers 25 and under in the American League. This is only a look at the current season, not the player’s career or the player’s potential, but his stats and value in this season.

5. Joakim Soria, Kansas City – 23
The rookie has been nothing short of spectacular for the lowly Royals. Soria has had an especially good stretch since the end of May, the last time he allowed a run. An opposing batter hasn’t crossed the plate against Soria in 15 appearances and 16.2 innings. Soria’s also had a 21/3 strikeout to walk ratio as well during that time. His WHIP is quite impressive as well going into Sunday’s game with a 1.04 number. He has been a huge part of the success in the Royals bullpen this season, and looks to have closers stuff if needed in the future, despite his struggles in the role early in the year. If and when Octavio Dotel gets dealt this summer, Soria may be the man that Bell calls on to close again and 45 strikeouts in 38.1 innings will almost always garner you some attention in that type of a race.

4. Chad Gaudin, Oakland – 24
After struggling in Tampa Bay to start his career, followed by a brief stint with Toronto, Chad Gaudin has found a home with the Oakland Athletics. A 3.18 ERA in 113.1 innings will do that for a guy. Gaudin has made himself a fixture in the Athletics rotation behind Dan Haren and Joe Blanton, helping to fill the void created by Rich Harden’s incessant injury woes. Gaudin is not an overpowering pitcher who’s going to dominate but he is very effective by pitching to contact, and yet despite this method, he has given up only 5 home runs so far this year, far less than pitchers cut from the same cloth. Gaudin’s also not the type to pitch deep into games as he has pitched 7 only four times in 19 starts, but again, he is terribly efficient and is carrying a solid 8-4 record into the second half of the season. With his ERA consistently in the top 15 for starters in the AL, the Athletics have themselves a winner who will give them consistency outing after outing.

3. Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles AL – 25
Hard to believe that K-Rod is only 25 as it feels like he’s been around forever, pitching and performing in big-time situations for the Angels. In his fifth year in the league and his fourth full year of closing, Rodriguez is truly having a solid year, even by his elevated standards. He has saved 24 games already and blown only two chances, all the while posting a nice ERA of 2.27. Rodriguez has had some inconsistencies so far this year but he has been the rock at the back end of the Angels bullpen closing games out for them nicely. His strikeout totals are impressive with 55 in only 39.2 innings while only allowing 17 walks. Rodriguez has also allowed just 2 home runs this season, just one of his many stats that are well on their way to being new career marks for the 25 year old Los Angeles closer.

2. Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit – 24
The first of two Detroit starters on our list, Bonderman has been the staff ace for the Tigers this year and has been a huge reason for their turnaround as a team over the past two seasons. He is also one of the main factors in the Tigers World Series chase with his cool demeanor and awesome control. Bonderman is having an absolute career year as he will likely set new career highs in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and new lows in walks allowed. After suffering through the down years for the Tigers, Bonderman is now reaping the benefits of having a great starting staff around him and at 24 he is one of the main pieces of the puzzle. As hard as it is to believe, Bonderman has been somewhat undervalued by the baseball media due to the fact he is overshadowed by Kenny Rogers and the #1 pitcher on this list.

1. Justin Verlander, Detroit - 24
The 2006 American League Rookie of the Year is our #1 AL Pitcher under 25, thus far. Justin Verlander’s career is on an absolute meteoric rise. He has won awards and this season he has already pitched a no-hitter and simply dominated all kinds of teams throughout the American League. In over half of his starts, 9 of 17, Verlander has gone seven innings or longer, including his amazing no-hitter against the offensively potent Milwaukee Brewers. Verlander still probably walks to many batters with 39 getting free passes already this season but they just don’t come around to score, which is yet another reason to back this superstar in the making. Luckily for the Tigers, his strikeout totals are quite impressive so they balance each other out. Verlander has 10 wins already and is more than likely to hit 20 wins for the first time in his short career. With guys like Bonderman, Rogers and the young Andrew Miller in the same rotation, Verlander will continue to dominate and is going to be in the discussion when it comes to Al Cy Young voting time at the end of the season. He has had the best season thus far by a pitcher 25 or under.

All-Star Game Starter

Everybody’s talking about yesterday’s showdown between C.C. Sabathia and Justin Verlander as the competition for All-Star Game starter. Verlander came away with the victory and has his manager, Jim Leyland, making the all-important decision.

I suppose Josh Beckett gets a vote too. He has been fairly inconsistent though this season, and similar to Sabathia's case, I'm not a big believer in Wins as a vital statistic. Only time will tell who Leyland goes for, but me, I’m a Dan Haren backer. The guy has been amazing all season and led MLB in ERA for 90% of the season. Haren has an ERA that is .96 better than Verlander’s and 1.38 better than Sabathia’s. He also has more K’s and less walks than Verlander but is behind Sabathia in that category, so if the competition is between anyone, it should be Sabathia and Haren, with my choice being Mr. Haren.

Crapshoot

Joe Mauer hit his 1st career grand slam and after that it was essentially academic. The Twins rolled, scoring 11 to Detroit’s one, and put a sound beating on Justin Verlander, giving me reason #356,098 why I’m not a gambler. Verlander had been the hottest pitcher in the Major’s coming into this game, having only allowed four runs this entire month for an obscenely low ERA of 1.24 in June.

He started terribly in the 1st, allowing 2 runs on sheer wildness before pitching coach Chuck Hernandez came out to calm his nerves. He then promptly retired 11 straight (as did opposing pitcher Johan Santana during the same timeframe) before giving up the aforementioned slam to Mauer.

The Tigers bullpen compounded the issues, allowing 5 runs on their own to give the Twins the easy win. Johan Santana pitched well, but not awe-inspiring.

The Biggest news for the Twins was the return of Justin Morneau after missing 5 games with a bruised lung. Morneau added 2 RBI on 3 hits to help salt away the game.

The Twins have to be taken seriously with a rotation that is led by Johan Santana, and a bullpen featuring Pat Neshek, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan. The offense is so-so but the pitching is pure quality. Add to that the fact that they just called up Matt Garza (highly regarded prospect 1) and may soon call up Nick Blackburn (highly regarded prospect 2) from Rochester, this team looks poised to push hard in the second half.

The loss by the Tigers, combined with a 2-1 victory by the Indians over the Devil Rays, allowed the Indians to take a .5 game lead in the Central for at least one night. This one could go to the wire.

A near no-no

Dustin McGowan of the Blue Jays was three outs away from joining Mark Buehrle and Justin Verlander in the 2007 no hitters club, but he lost it on Rockies outfielder Jeff Baker with a single in the ninth. McGowan still went on to throw the complete game shutout.

While McGowan has been maddeningly inconsistent all season long, perhaps the most interesting part of this near no-no is the fact that he got roughed up big-time in his last outing as he faced the Dodgers but could only go 1.2 and gave up six runs on eight hits. Bizarre.

And truthfully, if I had to have guessed any Blue Jay who would have pitched a performance like this, it would have been McGowan’s fellow upstart Shaun Marcum who has been more consistent and has a solid 3.38 ERA. Shows what I know.

The Rockies can’t be too happy with the sweep at the hands of the Jays as they were riding a big high after taking the Yankees for a three game sweep at home earlier in the week. Matt Holliday’s 2 of 14 performance in the series didn’t help matters.