Cortez Baseball

What do you think about my 2009 Mlb Playoff Predictions?

AL EAST
Rays
Yankees (Wild Card)
Red Sox
Toronto
Baltimore

I have several issues with it:

AL East- There's no way the Rays can keep up with the spending the Yankees have been doing, and the Bo Sox are just to solid to miss the Wild Card. With Burrell as the Rays only big name sign, they really haven't improved a great deal and are a long shot for second place in my mind and have almost no chance as of now at beating the now loaded New York Yankees.

AL Central- I can't see the Royals finishing ahead of the Tigers at all, and I'm very doubtful that they can beat the Indians. With a solid player at only one position (closer with Joakim Soria... who saved almost half of the Royals games... and ended with a strong 42 saves... He appeared 63 times, meaning he throws on average only once every 3 or so games).

AL West- I don't think Oakland is quite strong enough this year... They're still rebuilding, but they should be a definite competitor for the Angels.

NL East- Still can't see the Braves finishing below the Nationals. I just have no faith in Jim Bowden.

NL Central- While I can see the Cubs winning, I can't see the Astros beating either the Brewers or the Cardinals. That team is in shambles. The Brewers have waaay too much talent to finish below the Cardinals who have all their stock in Pujols and lack deep starting pitching and a bullpen.

NL West- I could see that.

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MLB Tickets – Surprise Starters

We sit 50-plus games into the 2010 Mlb season, and while guys like Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum are mowing down opposing batters as usual, there have been a number of starting pitchers that have surpassed expectations to this point.  Let's take a look at the starters currently outperforming preseason expectations:

Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies: He came into the season with pretty lofty expectations after a breakout 2009 campaign, but I don't think anyone saw this kind of start coming.  Through 11 starts, Jimenez is a stellar 10-1 with an incredible 0.90 ERA.  He's thrown a perfect game and has elevated himself to the one guy that you want to get <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/mlb-tickets/">MLB tickets</a> to see pitch right now.  His start has been historic and his season could easily be if he performs even decently well for the remainder of the season.

Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays: Romero had a solid start to the 2009 season, but faded after the All-Star Break.  Hopefully he isn't just a first-half pitcher, but he's at it again early in 2010.  Through 11 starts the Toronto hurler is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA and more strikeouts than innings pitched.

Shaun Marcum, Toronto Blue Jays: Romero isn't the only one tearing things up north of the border; Marcum has been even better than Romero, boasting a 2.59 ERA and racking up the quality starts.  Nobody really knew what to expect out of Marcum, as he was coming off of Tommy John surgery.  I think it's safe to say that he's the frontrunner for Comeback Player of the Year.

Phil Hughes, New York Yankees: Hughes won the fifth spot in the Yankee rotation this spring, but he's been the best pitcher in the Bronx this season through his first nine starts.  With a 6-1 record and a 2.7- ERA, Hughes has himself in the early mix for the American League Cy Young.

Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets: Not many people knew who Pelfrey was coming into the 2010 season, but he's posted a 7-1 record and a 2.54 ERA through his first 10 starts.  The Mets desperately needed someone on their pitching staff not named Johan Santana to step up.

Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals: Dave Duncan strikes again!  The Cards' pitching coach has this relative unknown coasting through games to the tune of a 5-2 record and a microscopic 1.32 ERA through 10 starts.

Mike Leake, Cincinnati Reds: The Reds rookie skipped the minor leagues after winning a spot in the Cincy rotation this spring.  He was originally thought to be a placeholder for the more heralded Aroldis Chapman, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  While Chapman has struggled with his control in the minors, Leake has posted a 2.45 ERA and a 4-0 record in his first 10 career big league starts.

Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves: The veteran has an ERA just over 2.00 right now and has adapted his style of pitching to suit his diminishing stuff.  He's not a strikeout guy anymore, but he's finding a way to get the job done every five days.

Jon Garland, San Diego Padres: Surely he's benefitting from pitching in Petco Park, but his 6-2 record and 2.15 ERA can be solely attributed to his home park.

Jeff Nieman, Tampa Bay Rays: The least heralded of the hurlers on a talented Tampa Bay staff, Nieman has amassed a 5-0 record in 10 starts and has his ERA currently sitting at a tidy 2.37.

Anibal Sanchez, Florida Marlins: He showed tons of potential when he was younger and may finally be realizing it.  He's currently 5-2 with a sub-3.00 ERA.

Doug Fister, Seattle Mariners: A lack of run support has his ERA at 3-3, but his 2.45 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP speak to how well he's pitched.  I'd never heard of him before this season.

About the Author

Morgan C. Dunn wrote this article, which was sponsored by <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/">StubHub</a>, one of the finest places in the entire world wide web to get <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/mlb-tickets/">MLB tickets</a>, concert tickets, theatre tickets, special events tickets, or almost any kind of sports ticket out there.