Kings pitcher Max Scherzer
This season marks the 10th anniversary of Kevin’s Kings most recent DTBL Championship. They are attempting to cap off the celebration this year by becoming the first franchise to win a fifth league title. They are the current front-runners, holding a nine point lead over the Mavericks. The primary reason for their lead is a dominant pitching staff led by three Detroit Tigers teammates: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez.
It can be a dangerous proposition to put all of your proverbial eggs in a single MLB team’s basket, but that is largely what the Kings are doing. With three fifths of their rotation consisting of Tigers pitchers, the Kings could have been doomed if this Tigers squad seriously underachieved. While Detroit is not running away with anything, their hitting and pitching have largely lived up to expectations, rewarding the Kings along the way. The Verlander, Scherzer and Sanchez trio has been especially dominant.
These three pitchers are having great seasons, with each of them contributing very similar numbers. All three are on the league leaderboard in strike outs, averaging more than a strike out per inning. They all have at least six wins with ERAs of 3.70 or better and very solid WHIPs. Together, they have helped boost the Kings to the top of the league in wins and near the top in the other pitching categories as well. Each took a different path to get to this point of their career with the Kings, however.
Verlander has been the ace of the Kings staff, and one of the top pitchers in the league, ever since the Kings selected him in the third round of the 2009 draft. This year, he has been solid, but not spectacular. In fact, he probably has the worst numbers of this Tigers trio. Scherzer and Sanchez both have better ERAs and WHIPs and even have more strike outs than Verlander to this point. But still, Verlander’s 87 strike outs and seven wins are nothing to sneeze at. He’s the safest bet to keep up the current pace for a full season since he’s done it four straight years. He has had a minimum of 17 wins and 219 strike outs in every season with the Kings. He is second, behind Randy Johnson, in franchise history in ERA, WHIP and strike outs.
Scherzer has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He won his eighth game of the year this afternoon, tying him for most in the league. His impressive 0.89 WHIP is second best, as is his strike out total which reached the 100 mark this afternoon. He’s been fairly unlucky to have an ERA over 3 (3.24) when looking at the rest of his numbers. But he’s on pace to set career bests in all four relevant categories. Scherzer was acquired in a trade with the Jackalope back in 2010. At the time, he was stuck on the bench for a Jackalope squad that had one of the strongest rotations in league history. Now he’s playing a leading role for the first place Kings. He has been a solid strike out contributor for quite some time, but this year is the first time he’s put it all together for a significant stretch. But his hot streak really started in the second half of last season. His turnaround from a rough start was a key factor in the Kings near miss of the ’12 championship.
Sanchez is the big surprise of this group. He’s been a solid, but not spectacular player for several years. But his inconsistency has led him to be shuffled in and out of the lineup since the Kings signed him as a free agent in 2011. The potential has always been there though, which is why the Kings have continued to retain his services despite being a part time player for them prior to this season. He won just seven games for the Kings a year ago, but is already at six this year. His 2.65 ERA and 1.09 WHIP are way better than his career marks. And 98 strike outs in 78 innings blows away anything he has done before. So if there is one candidate most likely to come down to earth, it would be Sanchez. He’s in a much better situation than in previous years though. He pitches for a very good offensive squad in a great pitcher’s ballpark. If he can continue to pitch as he has so far this season, he will be a pretty impressive third option for both the Tigers and Kings.
The Kings will need these three guys to continue to lead their staff because they got some bad news yesterday regarding another member of their rotation. Jake Peavy has a broken rib and will miss at least 4-6 weeks. It was Peavy who was expected to be the Kings number three guy behind Verlander and Scherzer. But Sanchez has grabbed that spot and will try to lessen the blow of the loss of Peavy.
Gators and Naturals Make a Deal
In other (belated) league news, the Naturals and Gators completed this year’s first regular season trade a few weeks ago. The Naturals dealt outfielder Starling Marte and their 8th round pick in 2014 to the Gators for relief pitcher Greg Holland and a 6th round pick. The Naturals were in desperate need of a closer following the spring training loss of Jason Motte and a subsequent injury to Chris Perez (who has some interesting legal issues hanging over him now too). Holland has been perfect for the Naturals so far, earning three saves with a spotless ERA. Meanwhile, Marte figures to be another important piece in the Gators rebuilding process. He has hit a rough patch since joining the Gators and is currently in their minors, but this trade was more about the future. The Gators have a vastly improved offense following a few years of historic ineptitude with the bats. Eventually, Marte should fit in nicely with the other good, young players the Gators have acquired in the last 12 months.
The big story in baseball this week is ESPN’s report that MLB is seeking to suspend 20+ players, including some of the game’s biggest stars, in the wake of the Biogenesis PED investigation. However, I don’t think this is worth discussing in any great detail until actual suspensions are handed out. Call me a skeptic, but unless there is hard evidence beyond Tony Bosch’s personal testimony, I think MLB will have a hard time dolling out lengthy bans. Bosch is simply not a credible witness. But we’ll wait and see what other evidence is provided. Stay tuned.