Kuzul

Four starts into his major league career, Tampa Bay Rays’ righty Jeremy Hellickson has opened up eyes amongst fans and the opponents he has faced. In four starts, Hellickson is 3-0 with a sweet 2.05 ERA and an even sweeter 0.76 WHIP.

I had the opportunity last night to watch Hellickson pitch against the Oakland A’s and I came away really impressed. While he doesn’t possess the fastest fastball in the game (average around 90 mph), it’s the way in which he mixes it in with his changeup and curve and his consistent delivery on all his pitches that make him really effective.

What separates Hellickson from other young pitchers is that his delivery and release point is very consistent on all his pitches. That is what makes the 10 mph difference on his changeup and fastball all the more difficult to hit.

Take a look at Hellickson’s release point chart from last night courtesy of PitchFX. As you will see, it’s pretty consistent throughout last night’s game:

There is a very good chance Hellickson will move to the bullpen once Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann return to the rotation. Next year, Hellickson will be in the rotation full time and the future looks very bright for this 23-year-old.

Here are some other facts about Jeremy Hellickson…

Age: 23

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

College: None. Went to Herbert Hoover High School in Des Moines, Iowa.

Drafted: Fourth round in the 2005 Draft

Minor League Stats:

2005 Rookie: 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA, 11 K, and a 1.17 WHIP in 6 IP

2006 Low Single A: 4-3 with a 2.43 ERA, 96 K, and a 0.91 WHIP in 77.2 IP

2007 Single A: 13-3 with a 2.67 ERA, 106 K, and a 1.09 WHIP in 111.1 IP

2008 High Single A and Double A: 11-5 with a 2.96 ERA, 162 K, and a 1.10 WHIP in 152 IP

2009 Double A & Triple A: 9-2 with a 2.45 ERA, 132 K, and a 0.89 WHIP in 114 IP

2010 Triple A: 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA, 123 K, and a 1.17 WHIP in 117.2 IP

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis

Ranking: No. 17 out of 100 best prospects in baseball in 2010.

Analysis: “Hellickson’s a different animal from his future Tampa rotation-mate Wade Davis, but they’re quite close in overall quality. Hellickson has less pure power than Davis, but a better changeup and his own plus curveball to give him multiple weapons to get big league hitters out.

Hellickson’s fastball is solid-average at 90-94, and he’ll cut it to set it off from his four-seamer (which tends to be a little true). His changeup is a real plus pitch for him as he has improved his feel for it dramatically in the past two years, and he has great feel for his breaking ball—with the ability to elevate it or bounce it or throw it for strikes as needed.

Hellickson’s control has always been excellent and he has plus fastball command, but the combination of average velocity and lack of movement do limit his ceiling somewhat to that of a No. 2 starter—not that that is anything to be ashamed of, and it’s probably more than the Rays could have hoped for when they signed him away from LSU for $500,000.”

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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As I mentioned in the post earlier, I got home pretty late on Wednesday night. I got home rather late because I made the rare weekday visit to Queens, NY to hang out with some friends.

The reason for the pilgrimage into Queens was to revisit our childhood by seeing “The Expendables,” but to also eat at Darryl Strawberry’s new restaurant, conveniently called Strawberry’s.

Before I get to a review of Strawberry’s, let me just tell you “The Expendables” was terrible. There was no plot and the fight scenes were poorly constructed. You know it was bad when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin gave the best performance.

Now onto a review of Strawberry’s.

Location: B

If you take the Long Island Railroad from Douglaston, NY, then Strawberry’s is the place for you. It’s right next to the train station, so if you want to stop in and get a beer, it’s pretty convenient.

However, the Douglaston stop on the LIRR is really in the middle of nowhere, so parking is not the best and they won’t get much walk-in traffic.

Decor: B-

As you could imagine, Strawberry’s was filled with New York Mets and New York Yankees memorabilia. There were a lot of tributes to the 1986 Mets team and of course, Strawberry himself. There were also plenty of TVs, so you could watch any game from any seat in the house.

Why I gave it a B- instead of a B+ is because of something I saw when we were leaving. Right when you walk in, there is a picture of all of Strawberry’s Sports Illustrated covers on the wall.

Strawberry appeared on the cover of SI a total of six times, but what killed me was that the magazines had someone else’s address on the cover. The magazines were addressed to a Don Smith or something. Very odd.

I would think Strawberry would be able to call SI and ask for the magazines he was on.

Menu: A-

I thought it was a pretty good menu. It had your classic pub fare along with some more upscale stuff like salmon. I also liked the fact that you could choose your bun when ordering a burger or sandwich.

Food: C

Remember the scene in “Tommy Boy” when Zolinsky was in the elevator and told Tommy that he went a little heavy on the pine-scented air freshener? Well, I think someone should tell Strawberry that he went a little heavy on the barbecue sauce.

They put BBQ sauce on nachos, quesadillas, you name it. There was even a HUGE bottle of BBQ sauce on the table just in case you didn’t get enough.

My buddy John ordered the macaroni and cheese and it was less than impressive. It was served in a cereal bowl and looked more like mac n’ cheese soup than anything else.

My friend Tom ordered the portabello mushroom sandwich, and when it first came out, it was just a small mushroom on a big bun. It was like White Castle-made portobello mushroom sandwiches.

The waiter came over and was in amazement of how feeble this thing looked. To his credit, the waiter did take it back and came out with a bigger portion meal. Of course, that bigger portion probably came out with some extra special sauce on it, but hey, what can you expect?

I had the lamb burger, which I thought was very good, to be honest. I had no complaints at all, and would order it again.

My other friend, Justin, had the BBQ chicken and didn’t think it was bad at all.

Overall: C

Overall, I think it was as good as we could have expected. Usually, these athlete restaurants are middle of the road and Strawberry’s was no exception.

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The for the second year in a row, the Washington Nationals had the No. 1 overall pick in baseball’s June Draft, and for the second year in a row the Nationals signed that pick to a record setting deal.

Last year, the Nationals signed RHP Stephen Strasburg to a four-year, $15.1 million contract, which was the highest ever to a No.1 overall pick. This year, the Nationals signed No.1 overall pick Bryce Harper to a five-year, $9.9 million contract, which is the highest ever contract given to a position player in the draft.

The Nationals are handing out a lot of crispy lettuce to their No. 1 picks, but as they have seen with Strasburg in 2010, it’s worth the money. The only way the Nationals will be able to compete on a year in and year out basis is if they build through the draft, restocking their farm system, and signing guys like Strasburg, Harper, and Drew Storen (the other first round pick from last year) is a good start.

Like Strasburg, Harper is considered a once-in-a-lifetime talent and was clearly the best player in his draft. The Nationals drafted Harper as a catcher, but he will switch over to right field.

Switching Harper over to right field will get him to the majors and in a Nationals’ uniform in speedy fashion. I expect Harper to be in a Nationals’ uniform by 2012.

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The Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox have a lot in common in 2010.

Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives, both teams are missing their star first basemen, and up until yesterday afternoon, both teams were missing their star second basemen.

Both Chase Utley (thumb) and Dustin Pedroia (foot) have been out since late June and both returned to their respective lineups on Tuesday. Both should provide huge lifts to their teams.

Utley was batting .277/.383/.466 with 11 HR in 77 games before injuring his thumb sliding into second in a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

With the Phillies tied for the NL Wild Card lead with the San Francisco Giants going into last night’s game, Utley will be a big addition to the lineup.

Wilson Valdez and his .280 OBP were not cutting the mustard in Utley’s absence.

Pedroia is returning to a Red Sox team that is holding on for dear life in the American League playoff race. With first baseman Kevin Youkilis done for the season, the Red Sox really needed their emotional leader back in the lineup.

When Pedroia went down, he was batting .292/.370/.502 with 12 home runs and eight SBs in 73 games.

Unlike Valdez in Philadelphia, Pedroia’s replacements performed admirably in his absence. Both Bill Hall (15 HRs) and recently Jed Lowrie (.429 OBP) did a nice job in filling in for the “Laser Show.”

As you would expect, both Utley and Pedroia were immediately inserted into their starting lineups as soon as they were activated from the DL.

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In case you haven’t noticed, the Atlanta Braves are beating people senseless at Turner Field. The Braves’ 42-16 record at home is the best in the majors and Atlanta shows no signs of slowing down.

The main reasons for the Braves’ home success is their pitching. The Braves rank third in the National League in home ERA with a 2.99 mark. The one starter who has really stood out at home is Jair Jurrjens.

With his stellar performance on on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jurrjens is now 5-0 with a 1.81 ERA at home. If you compare that to his 0-4 with a 6.39 ERA on the road, you can see that Jurrjens likes the home cooking in Atlanta.

However, if you look deeper into Jurrjens’ home and road splits, his peripherals are pretty equal. Here is how Jurrjens’ home and road splits shape up:

Home: 7 starts, 1.21 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 3.22 BB/9, .233 avg

Away: 7 starts, 1.26 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 2.84 BB/9, .251 avg

As you can see, not much separates Jurrjens from on the road from at home. So why has he given up just nine earned runs at home and 27 on the road? It has to do with Jurrjens remarkable strand rate home.

At home, Jurrjens is stranding a ridiculous 89 percent of the runners on base. On the road, Jurrjens is stranding only 46.9 percent runners on base. That is a huge split.

Essentially, Jurrjens is putting on the same amount of runners at home as on the road, but on the road he is not making the key pitches when it counts. The average pitcher strands around 73 percent of the runners on base, so one has to figure this will even out over the next month and a half.

While Jurrjens should continue to win games at home because he plays on a good team and he is a solid pitcher, expect his ERA to start rising at home. There is no way he can keep up this strand rate.

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With the news that New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez is done for the year, it’s only logical to look at the candidates to replace him.

The Mets will have three potential candidates to close out games: Bobby Parnell, Pedro Feliciano, and Hisanori Takahashi.

Knowing how manager Jerry Manuel operates, he will most likely try playing the matchups and go with a “closer by committee” approach. I absolutely hate this approach because it just never works, which is why I believe the Mets should go with Parnell as the closer.

Parnell has had a nice bounce-back year after his disastrous 2009 season. He has a 3.68 ERA, strikes out exactly one batter per inning, and averages over 95 mph on his fastball.

People desperate for a fantasy closer should pick up Parnell. He should get the first crack at closing games.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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I am going to venture to say that the last week has not been the best week in Francisco Rodriguez‘s life.

First he had the embarrassing incident with his stepfather last week, which resulted in Rodriguez being placed on the restricted list. Now adding insult to injury—or in this case, injury to insult—Rodriguez is done for the year in Flushing.

Rodriguez will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, which will end his season. Rodriguez hurt the thumb when he punched his stepfather in the grill last week.

This could only happen to the Mets.

The Mets have become such an embarrassing organization on so many levels that it is sad and pathetic.

I remember back in the 1980s when it was cool to be a Mets fan, and the team was considered a model organization. Those days are so in the rear-view mirror that it’s not even funny.

Whether it’s flying Ryan Church on a plane with a concussion, Carlos Beltran‘s knees, Oliver Perez refusing to go down to the minor leagues, or the stadium feeling more like a tribute to the Brooklyn Dodgers than a Mets stadium, it’s always something with the Mets.

The sad part this is that the Wilpons tolerate this all.

The Mets needed a complete organizational overhaul two years ago, and now it has gotten to the point where they have become a joke in New York.

When you become a joke in New York, you become irrelevant—just ask the Knicks and Islanders.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, via Twitter, the Mets are looking into voiding Rodriguez’s contract.

He has $11.5 million remaining on his contract in 2011, and he has a vesting option for $17.5 million in 2012.

I believe the Mets have every right to look into voiding his contract.

Regardless of whether or not you believe he deserves the money (he doesn’t) or the Mets can’t afford to lose him (they can), he is an embarrassment to the organization, and the Mets desperately need to get rid of those types of players.

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The Atlanta Braves heard some really bad news yesterday when they learned that 3B Chipper Jones will miss the remainder of the season because of a torn ligament in his left knee. Jones hurt the knee fielding a ground ball in Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros.

I actually watched the injury when it happened, and it looked ugly on TV. Jones backhanded a ball down the third base line and attempted to make a Derek Jeter-like throw to first.

Jones pulled off the play with perfection but landed awkwardly on his feet. It looked like his leg straightened out and he hyperextended his knee. Jones went down immediately.

Unfortunately for the Braves and their fans, Jones went down and went down for the count. Jones tore his ACL and will require surgery on that knee. At the age of 38, Jones may now be facing the end of his career.

Jones talked about retirement earlier in the season, and you have to wonder if at his age he wants to go through rehab that might take six months. My guess is that Jones will take the offseason to figure things out, see how the rehab is going, and also see what type of team the Braves will field in 2011.

If Jones does indeed retire, he will go down as one of the greatest switch-hitters of all time and will be a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He won the NL MVP award in 1999, and if it hadn’t been for a myriad of injuries, Jones could have ended his career with 3,000 hits and 500 HRs.

Unless the Braves make a move on the waiver wire, look for them to use Brooks Conrad and Omar Infante at third.

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My buddy Tom and I were talking about various baseball topics during work yesterday and the topic of the National League Rookie of the Year came up. We both had our favorite to win the award, but there are a lot of good candidates out there to choose from.

That being said, I thought I would size up the NL ROY race. Who are the contenders and who is the favorite?

The Best of the Rest

Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Mike Stanton, Alcides Escobar, Mike Leake

The Contenders

Gaby Sanchez, Florida Marlins: .293/.353/.460 with eight HR’s.

Perhaps Sanchez’s greatest accomplishment this year is holding off Logan Morrison. Sanchez is crushing left-handed pitching to the tune of a .337 avg and 949 OPS.

Ike Davis, New York Mets: .251/.328/.432 with 15 HR’s.

Second among NL rookies in HR’s with 15. But Davis is really struggling away from Citi Field, hitting .223/.288/.396.

Starlin Castro, Chicago Cubs: .310/.356/.443 with three HR’s and six SB’s.

Castro is hitting and fielding in Chicago. His 2.2 WAR ranks third amongst all NL shortstops.

Tyler Colvin, Chicago Cubs: .252/.313/.515 with 17 HR’s.

Leads all NL rookies in HR’s with 17 and he has only done it in just 270 AB’s. Only hitting .229 against southpaws in 2010, though.

Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves: .262/.377/.451 with 12 HR’s and eight SB’s.

Heyward has had a real up and down season. In May and July he was on a torrid pace and in April and June he was nonexistent. He will get votes because of his overall solid season, though.

Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals: 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 126.1 IP.

Garcia is seventh in the NL in ERA with a 2.71 mark and has dazzled at home, posting a 1.94 ERA in 10 starts.

Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals: 5-3 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.13 ERA in 52.2 IP.

It’s hard to give consideration to a starter who won’t pitch 100 major league innings, but Strasburg definitely deserves it. Still, unless he goes on a tear in his last four or five starts he will just get some votes based on hype.

Jonny Venters, Atlanta Braves: 17 Holds with a 1.09 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 57.2 IP.

Middle relievers normally don’t get consideration for awards, but Venters is an exception. His 17 holds places him in the top-10 in the NL and he has provided a nice bridge to closer Billy Wagner.

Hitters are batting just .105 against Venters in August.

The Winner

Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants: .345/.392/.526 with eight HR’s.

If Posey keeps this up, not only will he win the NL ROY, but it’s quite possible he could win the MVP award as well. The Giants are 36-24 when Posey starts and his hitting is one of the main reasons San Francisco have surged to the top of the NL Wild Card race.

Who do you think will win the NL ROY award?

Tomorrow I will size up the American League Rookie of the Year candidates.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Here are two pitching lines from Tuesday night:

Pitcher A: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K

Pitcher B: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Guess which pitcher took a win last night and which pitcher took a loss? Pitcher A is Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, who suffered a 1-0 loss to the New York Mets last night. Pitcher B is Los Angeles Dodgers righty Vicente Padilla, who got credit for the win last night in the Dodgers’ 15-9 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Padilla was darn lucky that the Dodgers had a rare offensive explosion last night. After being spotted a seven-run lead, Padilla cruised through the Phillies lineup the first time around. Then in the fourth and fifth, the Phillies really got to Padilla.

Padilla somehow escaped a bases loaded, one-out jam in the fourth. He fell behind Domonic Brown 3-0 and Brown hit a frozen rope to right that was caught by Andre Ethier.

Padilla gave up four runs in five innings and you felt that if he went out there for the sixth, he would have given up two or three more runs.

Jimenez, on the other hand, was rock solid against the Mets. His pitching line says he finished with four walks, but two of them were intentional.

The Mets did get to Jimenez in the seventh, but for six innings, the Mets didn’t stand much of a chance against the Cy Young favorite in the National League. Last night I felt Jimenez could have thrown nothing but his fastball and have gotten away with it.

The reason his pitch count was high was because he couldn’t get his slider and curve over for strikes. The Mets also did a good job of fouling off pitches.

However, Jimenez deserved a better fate. He deserved a win.

Last night’s pitching line for Padilla and Jimenez and results that they earned is just another example of why wins is not the best indicator to judge a pitcher’s value.

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