Yoenis Cespedes fascinated us, before he ever swung at a major-league pitch.
Now he fascinates us even more.
Yu Darvish fascinated us, before he's ever thrown a major-league pitch.
Will we feel the same way after Monday night?
They weren't the two biggest free-agent signings of the winter, but they may have been the most debated. We love mysteries, and no major-league players this year are more mysterious to us than the A's Cuban center fielder and the Rangers' Japanese starter.
Cespedes was Bo Jackson, with his power and speed combination . . . or he wouldn't be able to handle a big-league slider and would flop.
Darvish was a true ace, with incredible stuff and even more incredible numbers in Japan (93-38, 1.99, 333 walks, 1,250 strikeouts in 1,268 1/3 innings) . . . or he'd be thrown off by the different schedule, different baseball and tougher hitters, and become the next Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Four games into his big-league career, Cespedes is tied for the major-league lead with three home runs -- and leads the majors with seven strikeouts. Ten of his first 15 plate appearances have resulted in a home run or strikeout -- and none in either a walk or a single.
He blasted an incredible 462-foot home run Friday night in Oakland, prompting our good friend Ray Ratto to dub him "The athlete you postpone a trip to the bathroom to see."
As Ratto wrote, he's a "bathroom blocker."
There aren't many guys in that category. Maybe Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and . . . who else?
Pitchers don't fit in that exact category, but there a few guys in the big leagues who are must-see every time they take the mound. Justin Verlander is that way, as he proved again on opening day. Stephen Strasburg is, too.
Will Darvish prove to be the same? He is this week (unless you have tickets to see Bruce Springsteen Monday night at Madison Square Garden -- sorry, Yu).
On to 3 to Watch:
1. The Rangers wouldn't match the $77.5 million that the Angels gave C.J. Wilson, because they just didn't see Wilson as a staff ace. Counting the posting fee and the contract, they spent more than $107 million for Darvish. Now, a few hours after Wilson makes his Angels debut in Monday afternoon in Minnesota, Darvish debuts in Mariners at Rangers, Monday night (8:05 ET) at Rangers Ballpark. This is as big as it gets in Japan, and would be even if Darvish wasn't facing Ichiro's Mariners. It's big here, too, although just wait until June, when Darvish should face Cespedes for the first time.
2. Usually, it's hitters we talk about as having numbers you could only duplicate on PlayStation. But when I talked to Brewers starter Randy Wolf about Verlander's opening day gem against the Red Sox, Wolf said it was like a video game. "You know how on PlayStation, the more you play, the more experience points you get?" he asked. "He's like a 10 on every pitch. And he knows how to pitch. It makes it unfair, when you know how to pitch and you have 10s on PlayStation." Speaking of unfair, here are Verlander's numbers for his last 28 starts, dating back to his no-hitter last May in Toronto: 2.00 ERA, .183 opponents batting average, .515 opponents OPS. As a point of comparison, Diamondbacks pitchers last year had a .186 batting average and a .480 OPS. So over his last 28 starts, Verlander has basically turned every hitter into a decent-hitting pitcher. No surprise, then, that the Tigers are 24-4 in those 28 games. Verlander's worst start in that span? Last May 24, when he allowed six runs in six innings against the Rays. He gets another chance at them, in Rays at Tigers, Wednesday afternoon (1:05 ET) at Comerica Park. James Shields starts for the Rays.
3. I know, it's not fair to put Strasburg, with 18 career starts, in the same category as Verlander, who owns a Cy Young and Most Valuable Player award. I know, Roy Halladay against Josh Johnson (Wednesday in Miami) is a matchup of more proven aces. I don't care. Ever since his electric debut two summers ago, Strasburg is the guy who gets me to turn on the TV. And remember those Verlander numbers, the .183 batting average against and .515 OPS against over the last 28 games? In his 18 career big-league starts, Strasburg has a .210 batting average against and a .539 OPS against. His next start comes in Nationals at Mets, Wednesday afternoon (1:10 ET) at Citi Field. Even without Strasburg, this would be fascinating, because Johan Santana goes for the Mets, trying to match his impressive comeback start (five shutout innings, two hits) from opening day.
Now he fascinates us even more.
Yu Darvish fascinated us, before he's ever thrown a major-league pitch.
Will we feel the same way after Monday night?
They weren't the two biggest free-agent signings of the winter, but they may have been the most debated. We love mysteries, and no major-league players this year are more mysterious to us than the A's Cuban center fielder and the Rangers' Japanese starter.
Cespedes was Bo Jackson, with his power and speed combination . . . or he wouldn't be able to handle a big-league slider and would flop.
Darvish was a true ace, with incredible stuff and even more incredible numbers in Japan (93-38, 1.99, 333 walks, 1,250 strikeouts in 1,268 1/3 innings) . . . or he'd be thrown off by the different schedule, different baseball and tougher hitters, and become the next Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Four games into his big-league career, Cespedes is tied for the major-league lead with three home runs -- and leads the majors with seven strikeouts. Ten of his first 15 plate appearances have resulted in a home run or strikeout -- and none in either a walk or a single.
He blasted an incredible 462-foot home run Friday night in Oakland, prompting our good friend Ray Ratto to dub him "The athlete you postpone a trip to the bathroom to see."
As Ratto wrote, he's a "bathroom blocker."
There aren't many guys in that category. Maybe Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and . . . who else?
Pitchers don't fit in that exact category, but there a few guys in the big leagues who are must-see every time they take the mound. Justin Verlander is that way, as he proved again on opening day. Stephen Strasburg is, too.
Will Darvish prove to be the same? He is this week (unless you have tickets to see Bruce Springsteen Monday night at Madison Square Garden -- sorry, Yu).
On to 3 to Watch:
1. The Rangers wouldn't match the $77.5 million that the Angels gave C.J. Wilson, because they just didn't see Wilson as a staff ace. Counting the posting fee and the contract, they spent more than $107 million for Darvish. Now, a few hours after Wilson makes his Angels debut in Monday afternoon in Minnesota, Darvish debuts in Mariners at Rangers, Monday night (8:05 ET) at Rangers Ballpark. This is as big as it gets in Japan, and would be even if Darvish wasn't facing Ichiro's Mariners. It's big here, too, although just wait until June, when Darvish should face Cespedes for the first time.
2. Usually, it's hitters we talk about as having numbers you could only duplicate on PlayStation. But when I talked to Brewers starter Randy Wolf about Verlander's opening day gem against the Red Sox, Wolf said it was like a video game. "You know how on PlayStation, the more you play, the more experience points you get?" he asked. "He's like a 10 on every pitch. And he knows how to pitch. It makes it unfair, when you know how to pitch and you have 10s on PlayStation." Speaking of unfair, here are Verlander's numbers for his last 28 starts, dating back to his no-hitter last May in Toronto: 2.00 ERA, .183 opponents batting average, .515 opponents OPS. As a point of comparison, Diamondbacks pitchers last year had a .186 batting average and a .480 OPS. So over his last 28 starts, Verlander has basically turned every hitter into a decent-hitting pitcher. No surprise, then, that the Tigers are 24-4 in those 28 games. Verlander's worst start in that span? Last May 24, when he allowed six runs in six innings against the Rays. He gets another chance at them, in Rays at Tigers, Wednesday afternoon (1:05 ET) at Comerica Park. James Shields starts for the Rays.
3. I know, it's not fair to put Strasburg, with 18 career starts, in the same category as Verlander, who owns a Cy Young and Most Valuable Player award. I know, Roy Halladay against Josh Johnson (Wednesday in Miami) is a matchup of more proven aces. I don't care. Ever since his electric debut two summers ago, Strasburg is the guy who gets me to turn on the TV. And remember those Verlander numbers, the .183 batting average against and .515 OPS against over the last 28 games? In his 18 career big-league starts, Strasburg has a .210 batting average against and a .539 OPS against. His next start comes in Nationals at Mets, Wednesday afternoon (1:10 ET) at Citi Field. Even without Strasburg, this would be fascinating, because Johan Santana goes for the Mets, trying to match his impressive comeback start (five shutout innings, two hits) from opening day.
