9-News: 45.039 – Lee, Pineda: New Top Guns in Town?

[RonCo]

Off Topic

Young Guns Make Play for Top Rotation Spots


July 5, 2045: SEATTLE, WA – It’s not hard to argue that two seasons ago the YS9 front office made a decision to make starting pitching the centerpiece of whatever the future might mean, giving long-term deals to both Ernesto Ramos and three-time Nebraska Award-winning right hander Carlos Valle.

Valle, however, is having a standard “odd-season” for Valle, a non-eye-grabbing 6-6, 4.20 ERA effort that has been full of fits and starts. Ramos has been recovering from a well-publicized bout with shoulder inflammation, and has only recently seemed to get stable. Time will tell.

In the meantime, the kids have stepped up.

In his third season, 24-year-old Dave Lee seems to have finally hit his stride, and has posted a 11-0 record while posting a Nebraska-like 2.26 ERA. His 100 Ks to 21 walks are … well, we think the official language is “pretty damned good. “I’m feeling really comfortable out there this year. The change up is working better than before, and I had a chance to work with Jose Chavez on my knuckle-curve this springtime, which really helped. You can’t put a dollar value on that.” Lee’s last outing was a 7-inning, 8 K effort in Des Moines.

[Editor’s note: tell your agent that, Dave.]

On top of Lee’s performance, lay 25-year-old Carlos Pineda—a veteran by service time, but still a kid by age. Pineda has been coming back from his own bout with shoulder inflammation, a process that has seen the club limit his pitches for the for the first two months of the season. Still, Pineda is 7-2 with a 2.62 ER—numbers that make a Nine fan’s heart go pitter-patter because his career numbers (51-10, 3.41) and his most recent annual numbers say the kid can really bring it.

“Ernesto’s return has been difficult,” said medical trainer Julian Carmona. “But Carlos seems to be hanging in pretty well.”


Changing of the Guard Ushering In Phase Three?

Some fans are getting excited to the point that they are looking at Lee and Pineda as "phase three" of the club's rotation heads--phase one being Jose Chavez and Lawrence Columbus Laloosh, phase two being Valle and Ramos.

"I'm not sure about that," Lee said. "This is Carlos Valle's team, and I suspect it's going to be Carlos Valle's team for a long time. And Ernesto is goig to just get better as he comes back. If I'm ever even close to those guys, I'll be happy."


All-Star Break Coming At Good Time

For the first time in several seasons, it seems likely that no Nine starter will make the All-Star game, though some think Lee could have a chance. But team insiders say the rotation is looking toward the All-Star break to get the staff a bit of rest—a point that makes sense. With the club babying Pineda and Ramos, Valle has made 19 stars and thrown 111 innings, Lee has been pushed to 107 innings in his 17 starts, and the bullpen has made three. Pitching cash Alberto Sanchez has been talking a lot about getting his guys a bit more rest and using the time off to re-juggle the workload a bit.

“We’re in a real dogfight for the division,” Sanchez said. “It says a lot about the guys that they all want to get in and make a difference.”