Shelby Miller lived up to the hype as he hurled a one hit complete game shutout against the Rockies on Friday night. Miller allowed a broken bat single to Eric Young Jr to lead off the game, but after that he was perfect. He finished the game with 13 strikeouts and no walks as he threw 113 pitches on the night. He improved to 5-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.58 and has a WHIP of 0.88. He is an unusual starter in baseball as he only throws two pitches, but they are both plus pitches and he has great command of them. His fastball works consistently in the mid 90's and has a significant amount of movement on it. His slider is nearly untouchable as it has a hard sharp break to it. He was impressive to watch and showed great composure for a 22 year old. His pitching ability stretches far beyond his years.
The emergence of a few rookie pitchers this year in the Majors have shown a glimpse at the future and hitters are fearful for what that might mean for some of their averages. Matt Harvey, Jose Fernandez and Patrick Corbin hall all been very impressive to start their young careers. Harvey recently threw a nearly perfect game against the White Sox. He allowed one infield single in nine innings of work and struck out 12. Unfortunately for him he was unable to get the victory as the game went into extra innings tied 0-0. He is 4-0 with a 1.28 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. He has been a bright spot for the Mets and has given them hope for an exciting future. Jose Fernandez for the Marlins is another right hander for the Marlins who has impressed people on the mound. The 20 year old from Cuba has an electric fastball and on the year he has posted a 2-2 record with a 3.65 ERA. He still has some work to do before becoming an elite pitcher in the major leagues but he has the tools and should develop nicely. Patrick Corbin has been one of the biggest suprises this year as he seemingly came out of nowhere and won the 5th starting spot in the Diamondbacks rotation coming out of Spring Training and has been lights out on the mound early in the year. He has a 5-0 record with a 1.75 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He does not have overpowering stuff but he has shown exceptional command of all of his pitches and has been able to get ahead of the hitter as he has a thrown a first pitch strike 71.5% of the time this year. He works ahead in the count and is able to keep the hitters off balance throughout the at bat. All four of the young starters have the potential to become superstars should they be able to avoid injuries and continue to improve upon their strengths and work on their weaknesses.
The future for pitchers is even brighter at the minor league level as the talent level down there is something that can be a game changer when they finally get the call-up to the Majors for their respective teams. Guys like Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman for the Baltimore Orioles and Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi for the Tampa Bay Rays all have front of the rotation stuff and are waiting in the wings to come up and have a major impact for many years to come.
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