Earlier this year I faulted the Twins for getting dominated by the trio of Cliff Lee, Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana, calling them to “middle of the road” MLB starters. Some other pundits made the same comparison while the Twins offense was struggling. Well, the offense has warmed up in May (over six runs a game), but the three starters haven’t cooled off. In fact, they’ve been nothing sort of remarkable.
Remarkable may not be strong enough to describe what Cliff Lee has done this year. Stupendous, ridiculous, insane, and amazing may not even be strong enough. Tonight against Toronto Lee pitched nine shutout innings and got a no decision due to zero run support. This start followed up seven shutout innings against the Yankees last week. In fact Lee has only given up an earned run in two of his seven starts this season. He’s 6-0 on the season with an absurd ERA of 0.67. He has 44 strike outs and has yielded only 4 walks for an Eckersley like K to walk ration of 11-1. In 53 innings Lee has given up only 32 hits. To say the man is on fire would be an understatement. The Twins may be in first place but the Cleveland rotation has the potential to be downright nightmarish. With CC Sabathia getting back to normal and Fausto Carmona unhittable (if he can throw strike) the Indians have the potential to go deep in the playoffs.
Not as dominant as Lee but stellar nonetheless has been the Angels combo of Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders who are a combined 12-1. I faulted the Twins early for struggling against these two, but the rest of the league has followed suit. They sport ERA’s of2.63 and 2.48 respectively. What shocked me about Santana is the fact he’s only 25. He’s like the Mateen Cleeves of baseball— it seems like he’s been around forever.
Other Pitching News: Livan Hernandez keeps on keepin’ on. With all the dominant young arms out there it’s a joy to watch wily old Livan pitch. I eagerly watch every Livan start— kind of like how I used to eagerly anticipate each Johan start, for completely different reasons. Reusse wrote a solid column on the contrast between Buchholz and Livan this evening. Livan struggled early but true to this season’s form finished with yet another quality start and his third consecutive victory.
The Blue Jays and their vaunted pitching staff is up next. Stay hot Minnesota (bats).