The Future is in Good Hands...Or Should I Say Arms

The Future is in Good Hands…Or Should I Say Arms

The sports world is never in short supply of budding superstars. Whether it’s the guys who are much hyped and actually live up to their potential or unknown players seizing an opportunity and running with it, there is always new blood ready to capture the attention and love of the fans. Baseball is no different in this regard. Whether it’s a speedy outfielder, a corner infielder with power, or the guys we will be discussing today, the young left handed pitchers, there’s always someone emerging into the spotlight.

This season in baseball, a record number of players (12) are on pace to strike out at least 200 times. Never in history has there been more than one player to do so in a season. Now the odds of all 12 actually achieving this historic feat are pretty slim but we should have a new record after the season when more than one does. The reason for this is obviously that pitching is getting better, but what jumps out is the number of young, quality, left handed pitchers.

Leading the pack is perennial Cy Young favorite and young superstar ace Clayton Kershaw. Not only is Kershaw the best left handed pitcher in baseball but many would argue he’s the best pitcher period. At 25 years old he already has 2 All-Star Game appearances and a Cy Young Award, but the scary part is he is only now beginning to reach his potential. He currently leads the league in ERA and innings pitched and is tied for 3^rd in strikeouts. He is one of the few pitchers in baseball who goes out every five days and doesn’t need much run support to ensure a victory.

Madison Bumgarner is another young left handed starter, and he is a guy who doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. Bumgarner is a two time World Series Champion and is younger than Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Matt Harvey, all young pitchers who get much more hype. He’s been shaky his last few outings, but overall he is a top line starter for sure with command of all his pitches. He has an 11:3 strikeout to walk ratio and despite two bad starts has managed to keep his ERA at just above 3.00.

Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays burst onto the scene in 2011, making his second career start in Game 1 of the ALDS, pitching 7 scoreless innings shutting down a potent Texas Rangers offense. He entered last season with all the hype and promise in the world but managed an 11-11 record with an ERA in the high 3.00’s. This year however, it’s been a completely different story. Moore leads the league in wins with 8 and has an ERA under 2.30. With David Price not pitching well and being placed on the DL, Moore has stepped up and staked his claim to keep the Cy Young Award in Tampa.

Finally, when it comes to left handed starters, a name that cannot be left out is Patrick Corbin of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Corbin is tied for the National League lead in wins with 7 and has shown tremendous poise and command this season. He is 7-0 with an ERA of 1.44. He is not a dominating strikeout pitcher despite his performance last night where he struck out 10 Rockies but is providing proof that the future of the DBacks pitching staff is bright with an ace in the fold.