Yesterday, 8/24/09 Jimenez and Lincecum did battle at Coors Field. This match up was nothing short of what it was advertised to be, both pitchers went out and threw their good stuff. As we have become accustomed to in the month of August Ubaldo Jimenez came out with a win putting him at 12-9 on the season. He allowed 6 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings of work and lowered his season ERA to 3.79. This isn't anything new, this guy has been doing this all season, he has earned the right to be called one of the best in baseball yet for some reason he doesn't get that respect from the writers across the country. This guy throws in the upper 90s for no matter what inning it is, not only is his fastball something special due to this high velocity and movement it gets as it crosses the plate, Jimenez has 4 more pitches in his arsenal, a knee bending curve ball, a money slider, a ridiculous change up and his newly acquired split finger fastball. Everyone of these pitches is a quality pitch it isn't like he has to rely on one or the other he can throw them all for effective strikes. So please someone explain to me how Sunday night after Jimenez out dueled Lincecum analysts on ESPN can say that it wasn't Jimenez and the Rockies that beat Tim "The Freak Show" Lincecum and the wavering Giants, but rather that the Lincecum and the Giants beat themselves. What is it going to take for the Mile High Boys to get some recognition? Since the begining of the Jim Tracy era, the Rockies have climbed their way out of an almost season ending spin where at one time they were competing with the Padres for last place in the NL West. Now here we are in August and the first place Dodgers are looking over their shoulder at the rapidly approaching Colorado Rockies. When are the boys in Colorado going to earn some National Recognition and if not as an entire team someone put Ubaldo Jimenez in the National Spotlight. He deserves to be in the same conversation as a Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, and CC Sabathia, Players across the league view him as being on the same level, now its time for writers to step up to the plate and quit making excuses for the facts!
J. Bong
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3 comments:
There's a lot of validity to this posting and a genuine beef as mid-market teams such as the Rockies are receiving little (if any) national attention. This recent match-up between two of the game's most dominant young arms showcases the argument: Tim Lincecum is without question one of the most dominating pitchers in the game (and as rightfully so, coverage was given this young Giant stud who took a no-hit bid into the 6th inning), however, isn't it also impressive - perhaps even more so than the no-hit bid - that a relatively unknown flamethrower by the name of Ubaldo Jimenez was able to out-duel "The Freak" from San Fransisco? As the original posting noted, a "W" after 8 innings of 2 run ball whilst striking out 9 against the reigning Cy Young Award winner is certainly worthy of more than a passing word from our team of "expert analysts" from ESPN and similar networks. Let us not forget that this youngster plays half of his games at Coors Field, and with the latest start has lowered his season ERA to a chest-clutchingly low 3.36.
Listen! Can you hear that? That's the sound of the fastest average fastball in the Major Leagues among starting pitchers popping the catcher's mitt to the tune of 96mph...average...yes, average. (No joke! Please consult FanGraphs.com for more.)
I don't think there can be enough said about him playing half his games at Coors Field. Coors Field as everyone knows is not a pitcher friendly ballpark but if you were to look at Jimenez's numbers you would think that this was not the case. This youngster has had great success at Coors field not only winning games but it needs to be brought to attention that these games are also low scoring. If anyone thinks that Jimenez doesn't belong in the elite group, I think these other pitchers should come and play here at Coors Field for half their games and after that lets see if anyone still considers them the elite group. Writers both east and west need to quit ignoring what this young man has done and is doing both on the road adn in Colorado.
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