Max Scherzer, Arizona Diamondbacks - With the Diamondbacks in a serious early season funk, the pitching ability of Scherzer is flying under the radar. He owns a poor 1-3 record in the early going, but he’s pitched much better than that record would indicate. The right-hander is sporting a 3.35 ERA with a 33-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 38 innings of work. It is early in his career, but I’ve seen enough to know that he can dominate the National League. The young gun can bring the heat in the upper 90’s and offers a sweet slider and decent change-up as well. Importantly he shows the temperament to command these three pitches, which again makes his offerings frightening to the opposition. Things can’t much worse for Arizona offensively so expect their numbers to pick up slightly in the coming weeks. This should make for good underdog value with Scherzer on the mound.
Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers - Parra looks to be finally turning the corner for the Brewers, which now gives them a pretty solid rotation. Parra was rock solid in his rookie campaign with a 4.39 ERA. He faded some down the stretch and struggled against teams seeing him for a second and third time. Still, his peripheral numbers were strong with a 147-to-75 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In addition, last season he was what we’d call very unlucky as opposing hitters recorded a .335 batting average with balls in play. The left-hander started a bit slow in 2009, but he looks to be moving forward. He owns above average stuff with a 92-95 MPH fastball, curve, change and splitter. Since the start of May, all of his starts have been quality, allowing eight runs in four appearances. The strikeouts are there as well with 24. No question, if the Brewers are going to field a serious contender, the southpaw needs to come through with a big season.
Jarrod Washburn, Seattle Mariners - The 34-year old Washburn has pitched extremely well in the early going, but expect the other shoe to drop soon. The left-hander has added a sinker this season, giving his once fastball-heavy arsenal a new look for the first time in years. But when he moves around the league a second and third time, those hitters that were once baffled can now adjust to his new pitch. The always hittable Washburn has also been lucky so far in 2009. Last year, he allowed 174 hits in just over 150 innings of work. So far, in 2009 Washburn has allowed just 40 hits in 46.1 innings of work. Again, the law of averages figure to equal out and the norm of just over a hit an inning is expected. In addition, this bullpen looks to be pitching on borrowed time as well. The closer position is completely up for grabs right now with live arm Brandon Morrow dealing with problems. Stuff wise many of these arms just don’t stack up like Miguel Batista and David Aardsma. Look to fade Washburn and the Mariners.
