MLB Showdown Cards

MLB Showdown 2013: Starters 560-600 points 

               There are a lot of exciting young pitchers entering the league. None are generating more hype than Matt Harvey. He is in New York and has 36 career starts and an ERA under 2.50. Adam Wainwright and CJ Wilson have proved to be able to post serviceable ERAs while winning games for solid offensive clubs. Francisco Liriano helped the Pirates continue their magical year and make the play offs. Bartolo Colon has learned to be successful with only 1 pitch.

               With 6 control you have 3 different pitchers. They are all different kinds of pitchers. CJ Wilson has the 20 2B, 18-19 1B, 16-17 BB and 1-6 none advancing out. The pair of walks will be a pain to small ball players. He pitches 7 innings for 600 points. Matt Harvey will frusterate power players with his 20 2B, 17-19 1B, 12-16 FB, 1-8 none advancing outs for 6 innings and 600 points. He will have the best ERA of the 3 but won’t reset the bullpen like Wilson can and especially not like Adam Wainwright. Wainwright has 20 2B, 16-19 1B and 1-7 none advancing out with 8 IP for 600 points. He will have the worst of the 3 but will save the bullpen. He can even be a solid number 2 with someone like Fernandez or Bucholtz as a number 1 on a staff.

               Bartolo Colon is the only 5 in this point range and he is an interesting choice. He is a 17-20 1B, 10-16 FB, 5-9 GB, 1-4 none advancing out for 6 innings and 580 points. He is benefited from a slower league. Besides Trout and Goldschmidt not many of the great players in this class are going to be a bad matchup for Colon. Players like Cabrera, Davis and Ortiz will be neutralized. A great catcher arm can really make him a better player. Outfield defense may be worth more than infield with him. There may be more desire to try and cut runs down at the play then trying to use the double-play.

               There are no players with control 0-4. Next week we will explore starters with pitchers from 510-550.