Insider: Best surprises so far? Start with Maine event
Short Hops | Love Letters | 
Top Five
Come on now, you expected to see Donald Trump planting a juicy one on Rosie O'Donnell smack in the middle of Times Square before you expected this:
1. John Maine, New York Mets, 5-0, 1.79 ERA: So would you trade Maine and reliever Jorge Julio for Kris Benson now? Baltimore did a year ago January.
Oops.
|
|
| John Maine is 5-0 with 41 strikeouts in seven starts. (Getty Images) |
"He was developing. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be a solid 200-inning guy."
Thing is, the jump from innings-eater to kick-butt staff ace is big enough that few make it, even for a little while.
"Rick Peterson (Mets pitching coach) and Guy Conti (bullpen coach) both have done a good job with him, adding to his repertoire of off-speed stuff," Minaya says. "Now, he pitches high in the zone and low in the zone."
Eyewitnesses to that were the Washington Nationals, who were mowed down in Maine's fourth victory on April 29.
"He's really able to pound the strike zone now," Nats outfielder Ryan Church says. "Last year, he was missing more often. Everything would be up. This year, he has control of his pitches."
With a killer lineup but a questionable rotation entering the season -- Pedro Martinez is still rehabbing and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez has battled arthritis in his neck -- the Mets have gotten exactly what they need in the 6-4 Maine.
"He has to stay healthy, and he's definitely a guy who can continue to improve," Minaya says. "But at the level he's pitched at in the first month, I don't think anybody could envision that level. Maybe Felix Hernandez."
2. Josh Hamilton, Cincinnati, eight home runs, 17 RBI: From the opening day standing ovation Reds fans presented him to his current rank of leading NL rookies in more categories than anybody can count (batting average, runs, home runs, total bases, on-base percentage, RBI, slugging percentage, extra-base hits, helping little old ladies across the street, signing autographs, buying Girl Scout cookies, obeying traffic laws, solving crossword puzzles). ...
As I wrote last month, Hamilton so far is both the comeback and feel-good story of the year. He essentially missed the past four seasons while battling alcohol and drug addiction, the Reds took a chance acquiring him after the Rule 5 draft, and now the entire baseball world seems to be pulling for him.
"This guy's been away from the game for four years, and it's almost like he pressed a button and anytime he wants to come back and play, he can," says a scout who watched Hamilton's comeback in its embryonic stages this spring. "Athleticism, you can't beat it."
3. B.J. Upton , Tampa Bay, AL-leading .538 batting average with runners in scoring position: Upton not only led the league in hitting with runners in scoring position at midweek, but also was atop the heap with a .366 batting average before going 0-for-5 in a 1-0 loss to Baltimore on Wednesday night.
He's settled in nicely at second base after the Devil Rays handled him smartly this spring. The original plan -- publicly, at least -- was to use Upton as a sort of super utilityman all over the diamond. But as the spring wore on, the Devil Rays one day put him at second base and simply left him there.
The sneaky plan all along was to reduce pressure on Upton by not handing him a permanent position. The Devil Rays kept him so busy this spring, he didn't have a lot of time to worry until his acclimation already was well under way.
"He's using his lower half and driving balls now," says one AL scout who has watched Upton closely this year. "He used to just push balls out there. I'm impressed with his improved eye.
"I think he still has to learn to let the game come to him. Just play the game. Sometimes he'll take his time on a play and show off his arm."
4. Gil Meche, Kansas City, 2.32 ERA: All those jokes this winter about the Royals handing Meche a five-year, $55 million contract were really, really, knee-slappingly funny.
Now, not so much. The Royals, dead last again in the AL Central, have many issues. Meche, an astounding third in the AL in ERA, isn't one of them.
"He's always had the stuff, and the biggest thing now is, I think, he's taken on responsibility and matured," one AL scout says. "I see more consistency out of him. He's really surprised me. I didn't know he was that type of strong person."
5. Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego, 10 homers, 30 RBI: Same guy tabbed "good-field, questionable-hit" when the Padres acquired him from Texas before last season? Yeah, that guy. Now ranks second in the NL in both homers and RBI. And that's playing his home games in Yosemite, er, Petco Park (motto: You Can Hit the Ball a Country Mile and Still Not Hit It Out).
"I thought he'd hit, but I didn't think it would be with this kind of power," says one scout who has watched Gonzalez play since his high school days in San Diego. "He had a great year last year, too. He's not a fluke."
6. Jason Marquis, Cubs, 5-1, 1.79 ERA: From unwanted and bounced off of St. Louis' postseason roster to redemption with the Cubs in seven swift months. Don't look now, but Marquis' ERA ranks sixth in the NL and he threw a complete-game three-hitter against Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
In retiring the first 16 Pirates in order and tossing his first complete game since September, 2005, Marquis sure looked like he could pitch for St. Louis ... or the Cubs ... or anybody else. So much -- for now -- for the miracle-worker tag usually slapped on Cards manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan.
"It looks like his mechanics are better," one NL scout says. "He's more consistent in the strike zone. He always had a good arm, but he's back to commanding his pitches."
7. Rich Hill, Cubs, 4-1, 1.73 ERA: Hill ranks ahead of even Marquis -- fourth in the NL in ERA. But, know what stands out even more? Part of the secret to his success is that his strikeout-to-walks ratio is 33-12 in 41 2/3 innings.
"If you looked at his minor-league stats, he had one real good year, and last year was another, but before that, he had some years where he couldn't find the plate," an NL scout says.
I know. I've looked. How about three summers ago, when he issued a Florida State League-leading 72 walks in 109 1/3 innings? Heck, Hill's first season as a pro -- he was the Cubs' fourth-round pick in 2002 -- he walked 14 and struck out only 12 in six games (five starts) at rookie-level Boise. Hill, 27, has come a long way since then.
8. Joakim Soria, Kansas City, six saves in seven opportunities: Through Tuesday in 13 games, opposing hitters are batting just .196 against him.
The best description of the 23-year-old right-hander from Monclova, Mexico? "He's got big balls," an AL scout says. "Can you print that? Big balls."
The Royals scooped up Soria from San Diego in the Rule 5 draft last winter, meaning that they must keep him on their roster all season or offer him back to the Padres for $25,000. The way Soria is breaking out, the Padres probably would be glad to pay the dough, plus a healthy tip, to get him back. But no dice. With Octavio Dotel hurt, Soria has emerged as Kansas City's closer and may not relinquish the job anytime soon.
"He's a strike-thrower and he's sneaky," the scout says. "He's got a quick arm, throws up in the zone and the ball jumps on hitters quickly."
Plus he's got big, you know.
9. Joe Smith, New York Mets reliever: One year ago, this 23-year-old right-hander was pitching at Wright State University. Now, this third-round draft pick is a developing stud set-up man in the Mets' bullpen. Numbers: 17 games, no runs allowed, 18 strikeouts and seven walks.
"One of the best stories in baseball," Minaya, the Mets GM, calls him. "Nasty stuff."
Smith throws a fastball, changeup and slider. "You name it, it's hard," says Minaya, who adds that Smith is reminiscent of another kid he drafted years ago -- current Washington closer Chad Cordero.
Did the GM envision Smith pitching in the majors within a year of being drafted, though?
"I thought he could have pitched in the majors last year," he says.
10. Hideki Okajima, Boston reliever: While all of the attention has gone to Daisuke Matsuzaka -- you mean, there actually are other real, live pitchers on the Boston club? -- the other Japanese pitcher Boston signed has one save and a 0.56 ERA after his first 15 appearances. He's fanned 19 and walked only four thanks in part to a devastating change-up that has become affectionately known as the "Oki-Doki" in New England.
And who couldn't thrive with a pitch named that?
