Rookie Of The Year and Cy Young Award Winner?

[jochhejaam]

Has it ever happened? I haven't checked it out yet but one of the guys at work thought Fernando Valenzuela may have done it.

The reason I bring it up is because of the season Justin Verlander of our beloved Detroit Tigers is having. He's dominating so far this year.

Wins and Losses to this point; 13-4 (tied for 1st in the A.L.)

ERA - 2.69 (2nd best in the A.L.)

Had gone 56 innings without giving up a home run. (streak broken in his last outing, a 4-1 win over Cleveland.

Last 7 starts - 6-0 with an ERA of 1.72 (hasn't lost in 7 weeks)

Batting Average Against is .233 (6th in the A.L.)

100 mph fastball with movement.

[leemajors]

you think he can beat out liriano?

[tlongII]

Verlander and Liriano have both been great this year. I think you have to give it to Verlander just because the Tigers are the better team. Kenji Johjima has done an excellent job at catcher with the Mariners as well and deserves consideration for ROY.

[Horry For 3!]

Have you forgot about Jered Weaver? He has yet to lose.

7 starts, 7 wins. 47 IP 40K 1.15 ERA 0.79 WHIP

[tlongII]

Have you forgot about Jered Weaver? He has yet to lose.

7 starts, 7 wins. 47 IP 40K 1.15 ERA 0.79 WHIP

Haven't forgot about him. He hasn't put in as much work as Verlander or Liriano though.

[Supergirl]

Papelbon

[Marklar MM]

Papelbon

Nah.

[T-Pain]

Papelbon
yeah Papelbon is lookin good

[jochhejaam]

you think he can beat out liriano ?
He's havin' an awesome year too. The Tigers face the Twins tonight at Minn, hopefully they'll rough him up too help out Verlander's cause.

Tigers scored 2 runs in the 1st off Liriano :D . 2-1 after the 1st inning.

[slayermin]

I would say Liriano has the nastiest stuff of all the rookies. It's just a matter of time before he no-hits somebody.

[jochhejaam]

I would say Liriano has the nastiest stuff of all the rookies. It's just a matter of time before he no-hits somebody.
He's definitely a stud. After 7 1/3 innings he's struck out 12 Tigers. Ties a career high. (still pitching)

We busted him up (Tigers win 3-2). Liriano gave up 2 runs in 8 innings and his ERA skyrocketed from 1.93 to 1.96. :lol

[slayermin]

He's definitely a stud. After 7 1/3 innings he's struck out 12 Tigers. Ties a career high. (still pitching)

We busted him up (Tigers win 3-2). Liriano gave up 2 runs in 8 innings and his ERA skyrocketed from 1.93 to 1.96. :lol

:lol

The Tigers are tough. They matchup well with the Twins.

[NorCal510]

oakland u beezy!

[DarkReign]

Yes, it has been done before. Once

Fernando Valenzuela. 1981 I believe.

BoSox faggots on message boards need to get over Papelbon (not you Jim). Every loser thinks the Cy Young is his to lose. In the year of multiple players winning 15+ games, 2 of them being rookies, a closer who has more Ks than IPs is not winning the Cy Young.

[jochhejaam]

Verlander didn't have his best stuff tonight but he got his Major League Leading 14th win of the season.
He had a .078 ERA in his 4 previous games

[jochhejaam]

The rookie made the cover of the most recent Sports Illustrated, beating out Tiger Woods who won a major (same ol', same ol')

He's 15-6, most wins by a Tiger since '97, with a 3.05 ERA, second in the AL.

He'll need to finish with a flurry if he hopes to win the Cy Young but he has the inside track for the Rookie of the Year Award.

[DarkReign]

The rookie made the cover of the most recent Sports Illustrated, beating out Tiger Woods who won a major (same ol', same ol')

He's 15-6, most wins by a Tiger since '97, with a 3.05 ERA, second in the AL.

He'll need to finish with a flurry if he hopes to win the Cy Young but he has the inside track for the Rookie of the Year Award.

I dont think its going to happen. Hes going to get consideration for Cy Young, but I dont think he wins it. I think he has RoY all locked up though since Lariano went down.

[Mr Dio]

the doc must be considered for cy young


Halladay?
Yeah, he should get the CY @ this point.

[jochhejaam]

Halladay?
Yeah, he should get the CY @ this point.
I think he's a close second to Johan Santana at this point. Santana has 88 more K's (194, tops in the majors) and he also has the lowest ERA in the AL.
One more win for Halladay. Good race for the award.

[Rip-Hamilton32]

i was thinking the same thing im santana is also the best pitcher to watch imo

[BUMP]

Verlander and Liriano have both been great this year. I think you have to give it to Verlander just because the Tigers are the better team. Kenji Johjima has done an excellent job at catcher with the Mariners as well and deserves consideration for ROY.

Kinsler>>>Johjima and liriano, verlander, papelbon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>kinsler

[resistanze]

Ugh, Halladay pitched a 2-Run, 4-hitter Complete Game and lost.

[jochhejaam]

More news that should excite Tiger Fans. Recently drafted Andruw Miller, only 3 months removed from pitching in the College World Series Finals, has been called up from Class A Lakeland. Leyland said he believes Miller can help the Tigers immediatelyl.

Tigers' 2006 No. 1 draft pick called up earlier than expected
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Andrew Miller has been preparing for the Major Leagues ever since he signed his contract three and a half weeks ago, with a September call-up ensured. But nothing could prepare him for this.
A year ago at this time, he was stepping back onto campus at the University of North Carolina. On Monday, he stepped out of a cab and into a pennant race, starting at some point in the next couple days with his Major League debut at Yankee Stadium.

Asked to compare this to other points in his baseball career, he sheepishly answered, "I don't know if I can relate anything to this."

About the only comparison for him would be the College World Series, and that was less than three months ago. Until now, it had been the highlight of his summer. Once he joined the Tigers organization, however, everything pointed to him coming up to the big leagues in September -- a plan that was moved up a few days once the Tigers needed a left-handed reliever, with Wilfredo Ledezma making a spot start.

That changed Miller's timetable from possibly making his big-league debut in the homely confines of Comerica Park to likely pitching in one of the most challenging atmospheres in sports.

"It's just a dream come true," Miller said on Tuesday afternoon before rains postponed that evening's scheduled contest. "I don't know if it's all hit me yet or not, but it's a pretty amazing place. The first Major League locker room I've ever been in is Yankee Stadium. You can't really beat that."

For the Tigers, Miller's arrival should relate to those Spring Training days when another 21-year-old pitcher with a big fastball, Joel Zumaya, was on his way to making the club. But while Zumaya has the big build and mean look of a pitcher beyond his years, Miller almost looks younger than his age.

"He's a real handsome-looking kid," manager Jim Leyland joked. "He doesn't have any gray whiskers, I can tell you that."

As long as his pitching is more advanced than his facial hair, that's all Leyland is concerned about. From all the reports Leyland has received, Miller has a chance to help them right now.

Miller said he pitched in his three appearances for Class A Lakeland looking to throw strikes over the plate, not to pitch scared. With his 98-mph fastball and the arm angle created by his 6-foot-6 frame, he was too much for most Florida State League hitters, striking out nine over five scoreless innings of relief.

"That was my goal, just to throw the ball over the plate and go from there," Miller said. "It worked for me pretty well down there. This is an entirely different story, so we'll see."

He has made the temporary transition to relief work well, he said. As hard as he throws, the short nature of relief appearances allows him to fire away without as much of a concern about endurance as he would have as a starter. As a reliever, he said, he works more on adrenaline, which actually sounds a lot like Zumaya.

"It's such a shorter time that you're out there on the mound, you have to go right at hitters," he said. "As a starter, you know if a guy walks, you can get the next guy. From my standpoint, there's a good chance if I walk a guy that I probably won't see the next batter."

How his game will translate to the big leagues is a major question down the stretch. How he transitions into life as a Major Leaguer is a whole other factor. Until this week, the only time he had been in New York had been as an amateur player with his parents. They'll be back for this series, having flown up from the family home in Gainesville, Fla.

He was making introductions with many of his new teammates on Tuesday afternoon. One notable exception was fellow lefty reliever Jamie Walker, who went out of his way to call Miller in his hotel room on Monday and talk to him about life in the big leagues.

"I just told him what to expect," Walker said. "Shoot, he's practically out of college. I told him that after the game, no matter if you get lit up or strike out the side, just don't say something that'll come back to haunt you. ... Be a man. That's what I basically said. He's good. He seems humble."

It's a lesson Walker remembers former Royals great Jeff Montgomery teaching him when he broke into the Majors with Kansas City in 1997. Miller was 11 years old the day Walker made his big-league debut. For that matter, Zumaya was 12, and both Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman were 14.

"Thank God I've got grandpa down there [in the bullpen]," Walker said, looking at closer Todd Jones. "I don't feel so bad."

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060829&content_id=1634643&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det

[Marklar MM]

98 mph...yikes.

Zumaya throwin 99-101, Miller throwing 98. Damn son.

[jochhejaam]

98 mph...yikes.

Zumaya throwin 99-101, Miller throwing 98. Damn son.
Millers first game in the bigs and Leyland throws him in starting the 8th inning of a 2-0 game against the Yanks at their house, with his parents in the stands. :lol
Line. 1 inning, 0 hits and 1 hbp.
Nice going young man.

[v2freak]

Papelbon for ROY, but I'm not sure who to choose for CY

[jochhejaam]

Nice year for Justin Verlander, and he was rewarded as an almost unanimous choice for rookie of the year (26 of 28 first place votes).



Verlander wins AL Rookie of the Year
Righty tops list of talented young hurlers in American League
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

Justin Verlander's 17 wins easily led all Major League rookie pitchers.
DETROIT -- Even in the midst of the disappointment of a World Series defeat, Justin Verlander admitted after his season-ending loss that he couldn't have asked for a better rookie season. Two weeks later, with a little time and a lot of a hardware, it's a little clearer to him now.
In what was categorized as the year of the rookie pitcher in the American League, Verlander was the one still pitching at the end -- the very end, in fact, by starting the final game of the World Series. He didn't get a championship, but by winning Monday's AL Rookie of the Year award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, he has a clean sweep of the rookie honors.

The latest and most prestigious of the awards wasn't even close. Verlander received 26 of the 28 first-place votes, and his 133 total points more than doubled that of runner-up Jonathan Papelbon. Twins hurler Francisco Liriano and Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis received the other first-place votes.

The historic significance runs deep. Verlander became the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to win AL rookie honors, last accomplished by then-Yankees pitcher Dave Righetti in 1981. No Tigers at any position had won the award since Lou Whitaker in 1978, and no Tigers pitcher since Mark Fidrych in 1976.

"I've definitely had an opportunity to put things in perspective," Verlander said, "and realize how much of a good year this was, not only for me but the team as a whole, how lucky I was to make it to the World Series in my rookie year."

Add up all the games Verlander put in to get there, from his season debut in Texas to Game 5 of the Fall Classic in St. Louis, and he pitched 207 2/3 innings -- 86 more than Liriano and 17 more than any other rookie hurler this year. He topped Dontrelle Willis' 2003 innings total by 35.

Yet, it was more than simply a battle of attrition that Verlander won. The 23-year-old right-hander ranked fourth among AL pitchers of all experience levels with 17 wins, easily leading all Major League rookies, as did his 186 innings pitched and 3.63 ERA among rookies with enough innings to qualify for an ERA title. He ranked among the league leaders in ERA until a second-half fade -- he posted a 5.86 ERA over his final nine starts -- which knocked him into a seventh-place tie.


"I don't think anybody expected to get what we got," pitching coach Chuck Hernandez said. "We figured he'd be a pretty good pitcher, but you never know how guys handle things. He went through a lot when he got tired. That's a learning situation everyone goes through."
Not everyone, however, goes though it on as big of a stage as Verlander, who went from the fifth man in Detroit's rotation order at season's start to a frontline arm by midseason. He made his presence known in an April loss at Oakland, where he repeatedly hit triple digits on the radar gun, then won AL Rookie of the Month honors in May with a four-game winning streak that included a complete-game shutout in Kansas City.

Verlander was the first Major League rookie in five years, and the first Tigers rookie, to win 10 games by the All-Star break. He was baseball's first rookie since Dwight Gooden in 1984 to last six innings with one or no runs allowed in five consecutive starts.

"He pitched early in the year in a lot of big games against the big pitchers," Hernandez said. "He had that sense knowing it's going to be tough to get runs tonight. It's almost like he dialed it up, and that's pretty impressive for a young guy."

All the while, Papelbon was leading the Majors in saves, while Liriano was playing a major role in turning around the Twins from their slow start in 2006.

"I think it's kind of feeding off the success of one another," Verlander admitted Monday. "I said all year, it's like what me and [Joel] Zumaya did all year. Seeing someone going through the same process you are during the year, I think it accelerates the process. Seeing other rookies come in and have success, we can kind of build off each other. It gives us all the more confidence to go out and go after these guys."

By the stretch run, Verlander was running out of company, at least nationally. Liriano began experiencing elbow pain near the end of July, struggled from there, and underwent reconstructive surgery on Nov. 6, which is expected to keep him out of action for 2007. Papelbon was shut down at the beginning of September after injuring his shoulder, and is expected to shift back to the Red Sox rotation next year.

Verlander, too, had his struggles, battling arm fatigue and a drop in velocity while giving up a 5.86 ERA over his final nine starts. Yet within that stretch were key performances in what ended up being clutch wins, including seven innings of one-run ball to beat the White Sox on Aug. 21 and the Twins on Sept. 7 at the Metrodome.

"I was a little bit different," Verlander said. "Most of that was physical, not mental. It was pretty well noted my fastball wasn't what it was. Mentally I was the same. I'm going to challenge hitters. I still felt the same way. Physically, I couldn't throw in the upper 90s."

With advice from Kenny Rogers, who knows something about pitching without an abundance of power, Verlander learned a thing or two about pitching.

"Pretty much everything this year was a learning experience for me," Verlander said. "Having to pitch without my best stuff is definitely something I can take away from, and I pitched OK. That gives me confidence."

Building off that will be the challenge for next spring. For now, the Tigers' offseason plan for him is to simply rest his tired arm. He nearly missed the award announcement because he was outside washing his car at his home in Goochland, Va.

Lest he get too caught up in the awards, however, Hernandez called him immediately afterwards with congratulations -- and instructions on what he can do better.

"We didn't get into approach and pitching mentality," Verlander said. "We talked about fielding, obviously."

Said Hernandez: "He should win Gold Gloves. They're scared to run on him. He's a tremendous athlete. Fielding, he threw one [ball] away in the World Series, but I don't remember him doing that this year. He's got the ability to be a Gold Glove fielder some day."

The pitching part of his game is not something Hernandez is going to harp on quite yet.

"He will refine his command within the strike zone over the next couple years at the sake of not losing his good stuff," Hernandez said. "That just comes with reps. The more times you step on the mound, your command on both sides of the plate gets better. By the end of the year, the curveball was becoming a real good pitch."


http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061113&content_id=1739688&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det