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Baseball's Top 20 Young Pitchers

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — NOTE: All pitchers on this list will be 25 or younger as of June 30, 2008. Even with just 17 games of big league experience, he's earned the third slot in the Rockies' starting rotation, and with better location on his 100-mph fastball, Colorado could have an ace in the making.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 29, 2008

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  • ycohain, on 04/29/2008, -0/+19For all those not interested in going through 20 pages, here's the list:
    20. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies
    19. Tom Gorzelanny, Pittsburgh Pirates
    18. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
    17. Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers
    16. Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays
    15. Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles Dodgers
    14. Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox
    13. Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers
    12. Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds
    11. Phil Hughes, New York Yankees
    10. John Lester, Boston Red Sox
    9. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
    8. Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
    7. Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees
    6. Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins
    5. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
    4. Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays
    3. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies
    2. Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians
    1. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -0/+11Fausto Carmona is nasty. His sinker is just plain scary, and his slider is brutal with hard late movement. To quote Torii Hunter:

    "It's not normal," Torii Hunter said of Carmona's go-to pitch. "He's not even human. It was so scary, I thought I was hung over."

    Hunter also added this "That dude is filthy," "We've been struggling, but even if we had been playing good, we wouldn't have beaten him. If you've never played the game, listen to me, I'm a hitter. Right-handers have no chance unless they get lucky and get a hit on a broken bat."
  • Emmo213, on 04/29/2008, -1/+12Glad to see Fausto Carmona was on the list. And while many of these guys will or have already been good, there's some of questionable choices too.
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -2/+11Papelbon is 27. Given that this list is for those 25 or under, you're a moron.

    What's the literacy rate in Red Sox Nation?
  • prkchpsndwiches, on 04/29/2008, -1/+9Isnt Lirano (#6) back in the minors already?

    GO TRIBE!
  • kwelling12, on 04/29/2008, -1/+9Now with current (2008) record and ERA

    20. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies, 1-2, 6.46
    19. Tom Gorzelanny, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-3, 8.46
    18. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants, 1-2, 4.41
    17. Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers, 0-0, 0.64
    16. Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays, 0-0, 7.62
    15. Chad Billingsley, Los Angeles Dodgers, 0-4, 6.53
    14. Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox, 1-2, 4.08
    13. Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers, 1-2, 4.28
    12. Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds, (hasn't pitched)
    11. Phil Hughes, New York Yankees, 0-3, 7.85
    10. John Lester, Boston Red Sox, 1-2, 5.40
    9. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants, 4-0, 1.23
    8. Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels, 2-3, 4.21
    7. Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees, 1-1, 1.59
    6. Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins, 0-3, 11.32
    5. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners, 2-1, 2.22
    4. Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, (hasn't pitched)
    3. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies, 2-3, 2.75
    2. Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians, 3-1, 2.89
    1. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers, 1-4, 6.50

    Yes, I'm bored
  • sgtbutterscotch, on 04/29/2008, -2/+9"Cain, not Kain," not "Cain, not Kane"
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -0/+7Verlander is overrated.
  • jefbob, on 04/29/2008, -0/+6As great as it was to see Homer Bailey on the list, where is Johnny Cueto? He is better than his 1-2 record and Homer Bailey is playinig in the minors....
  • pleiroma, on 04/29/2008, -3/+9Homer Bailey looks like a girl.
  • DaFunk, on 04/29/2008, -0/+6You've got to also add Edinson Volquez then. 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA, 33 Ks to only 4 walks.
  • dolemite5005, on 04/29/2008, -3/+9King Felix should be #1, he also deserves to be on a better team than the Mariners.
  • talonstriker, on 04/29/2008, -1/+6Where the ***** is John Lannan? Oh wait he's with the Nationals, which means that he automatically gets no respect.
    Oh and Cole Hamels should be number 1. As a Nats fan I see him several times a year and he's always dominating. His change-up kicks ass. Plus he's a workhorse.
  • pear1jamten, on 04/29/2008, -2/+7I'm glad to see more sports articles hitting the front page on Digg
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4Barry Zito is 29. Yes, I get your joke as he's full of money and suck right now, but ineligible for this list.
  • cjrutledge, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4what about jair jurrjens? he has great stuff and a lot of composure for such a young guy
  • sgtbutterscotch, on 04/29/2008, -0/+4better than ubaldo jiminez
  • ell0bo, on 04/29/2008, -1/+5Ahh Cole Hamels, if only we could find another pitcher like you we might have a decent rotation. At least the bullpen hasn't imploded again this year.
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -1/+4I agree about Verlander, though I don't think he should be #1 on this list. Bonderman, completely agree. He's got some work to do before he's among the elite.

    Good luck in the AL Central. Looking forward to the pennant race with you guys (Go Tribe!)
  • vernacularninja, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3and neither do half of those guys on the list.

    Greinke:

    His rookie year - 8-11, 3.97 ERA, 100 Ks

    He has a career 4.39 ERA in only two full seasons, considering he pitched in the BP most of 2006, 2007
  • inactive, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3When will sites learn that the couple extra ads that may be click on does not make up for the fact that thousands more people will REFUSE to go through a top 20 list one page at a time?
  • Spoomeister, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3Almost right - King Felix doesn't need to be on a different team, he just deserves to have better offense from his existing team. The Ms are 2 bats away from being postseason-ready. (Not kidding. They are literally like 0-10 in 1-run games. Any offense at all from 1st, RF or DH and the Ms would be tied for first in the West instead of 4.5 back.)

    Last start, Felix was strong through 7 - including a 1-2-3 2nd inning that saw him strike out 3 guys in a row, including Frank Thomas. Then he fell over and gave up 4 runs in the 8th. But if the Ms offense was worth a damn, that would have been recoverable. Instead, Felix - like all the other Ms starters- have to pitch knowing that if they give up more than 2 runs, the game's basically over.
  • cdbeshore, on 04/29/2008, -2/+5Zack Greinke has better stats than most of these guys. He's 24.
    2007 - 3.69 era
    2008 - 1.25 era 3-0 (2nd in the league! you'd think that would matter)
    Oh yeah, he's with the Royals, that's why they forgot him. We don't count.
  • Nyck, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3Verlander has some great stuff...off to a terrible start this year though...seems like something is whacky on his control.

    Bonderman has no control this year either...I dunno if he should be on that list...hes been more potential than skill.
  • mlvassallo, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3I wish I could both dug you up and bury you.
  • acs12798, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3The fact the he throws a 100mph fastball doesn't make him awesome. The fact that he throws a 100mph fastball with accuracy and movement, and he also throws an extremely nasty slider make him awesome.
  • purplehaze420, on 04/29/2008, -0/+3Justin verlander looks soooo old for his age
  • tim2nyy, on 04/29/2008, -3/+5Jump the gun much?
  • tehHardcorez, on 04/29/2008, -2/+4I live in the NE area (not from here though) and it's very, very bad. I mean, they can't even spell 'Socks' right.
  • inactive, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2And to Yankees fans last year...Dude calm down..it was ONE MONTH out of a long career. But that didn't stop them from proclaiming that their entire careers would be as good as their first 4 weeks in the majors.

    At some point, it becomes obvious that for Kennedy and Hughes, the fluke year was LAST year, not this year. After all, Kennedy has now played just as many innings this year as he did last year.
  • cdbeshore, on 04/29/2008, -1/+3*****, i forgot about our closer Joakim Soria. He doesn't even have an era, he's so damn good (0.00) and has 6 saves. Only 23.
  • Bojanglesmn, on 04/29/2008, -0/+21. There's no conspiracy theory against teams. The Giants are terrible and they had two on the list.
    2. Team record has nothing to do with the list (especially such a small sample size.)

    That being said I love Gaudin and wouldn't have minded if he were on the list. And Street (yes he's under 25 still) should've probably made an appearance.
  • pardonmedoug, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Dude, calm down. It's April.
  • Emmo213, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Yeah, Liriano was sent back to AAA on Friday.
  • dan222555, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2He has enormous potential. He just doesn't know how to use what he as yet.
  • santaliqueur, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Usually it's RTFA, but this time...read the ***** FIRST LINE.
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -1/+335.1 Career innings pitched. Wait til teams start seeing him multiple times and improve scouting reports, then judge. Plus you can't throw a 100 MPH fastball forever.
  • tim2nyy, on 04/29/2008, -2/+4Are you just angry because the only way you guys could beat him was by summoning your mosquito horde?
  • horscategorie, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2OMGZ ze bugs are comming!!!!
  • dan222555, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2He's just as good as every pitcher around him on that list. Not to mention the fact that he's younger than all of them and he pitches in the American League for the Yankees. There's no question he deserves to be on the list. He pitched well last year. He's struggled a bit this year but it's only April.
  • jpezzznuts, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Posting a 11.32 ERA and losing all three starts since returning to the rotation will do that to you.
  • kwelling12, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2This list was made before the season started. Cueto was a total unknown until he went out and dominated his first 2 starts.
  • blankhorizons, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Joba isn't a starter
  • tim2nyy, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Losing a series 3-1 is not being swept.
  • BinaryDelt, on 04/29/2008, -1/+3Baseball is life. The rest is just details.
  • jefbob, on 04/29/2008, -0/+2Totally agree. They should both be on there. They both throw some heat, Cueto just came to my mind first since he is starting tonight.
  • weebs, on 04/29/2008, -1/+2King Felix >
  • dslartoo, on 04/29/2008, -1/+2I'm wondering if the SI people could possibly have gotten any LESS flattering photos of the pitchers in question. Was it really necessary to show 'em all in the frantic spasms of their delivery?
  • talonstriker, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1No look at this stats: http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lannajo01.shtm ...6 of those 9 ER were given up in 1 game. Otherwise he'd have an ERA under 1.
    The list is probably made up of guys who where highly touted by Baseball America...and its not based on performance at all (e.g. Bonderman).
  • mlvassallo, on 04/29/2008, -0/+1They sure couldn't hit King Felix the other night...
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