MLB: The Young Guns are Taking Over

Heyward, Davis lead sterling class in Year of the Phenom
by: John Heyman Good Article on the yooung guns. I think this will all change when the pitchers come up in a month.
This past weekend at Citi Field, a pair of rookies, one the most talked about prospect in the game, the other a recent call-up who has already been causing a stir in his first week, crossed paths for the first time on a major league field. In a season that is looking like it will be the Year of the Phenom, both Ike Davis of the Mets and Jason Heyward of the Braves have been turning heads and earning rave reviews from their managers not only for how they play but also for how they handle themselves.
"He's a very confident and comfortable young man at this level,'' Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of the 23-year-old Davis. "He doesn't seem to play with the anxiety of a young person playing in the major leagues for the first time.''
"He's a great kid,'' Braves skipper Bobby Cox said of the 20-year-old Heyward. "His makeup is off the charts.''
Heyward also stands out for his remarkable calm. While others have compared him to Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell and Ken Griffey Jr., he remains unfazed. "I don't have any expectations,'' he said. "I just intend to be patient and take what the game gives me.''
One scout has called Heyward "the best prospect I've seen in decades." On Sunday, Cox praised his baserunning ability by saying, "He has big-time instincts. He has some larceny in him.'' Keep in mind that those comments came from a level-headed future Hall of Famer who's seen it all and has every reason to keep expectations down. And they come, too, with Heyward having exactly zero stolen bases.
Heyward was programmed to be a star from the start, as his father, Eugene, a former Dartmouth basketball player, molded him to be a major leaguer while eschewing all other sports. But there has been no sign of any of the potential pratfalls associated with such single-mindedness.
Some have said the buildup is too much, the hype too high for Heyward. But everyone from baseball lifers like Cox to scouts to sportswriters have been raving about him. Veteran Troy Glaus is one of the rare people tempering his comments about Heyward. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, he's got all the ability and he's doing a great job,'' Glaus said. "But let the kid get his feet wet. He's got 50 at-bats.''
To be precise, Heyward has 59 at-bats, but they've been pretty productive ones. He has four home runs and 16 RBIs for the offensively inept Braves (see below). But he also has 23 strikeouts, including at least one in each of the last eight games before the rain-shortened 1-0 defeat Sunday night to the rival Mets. Cox acknowledged pitchers are making early adjustments to beat him and now it's Heyward's turn to adjust. It's a "cat and mouse game'' Glaus said.
Pitchers may soon have to adjust to Davis as well, who had a stellar first week in which he batted .318 with a .400 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. Going into the season, Davis was ranked as merely the seventh best first-base prospect by Baseball America, behind Texas' just-promoted Justin Smoak, Florida's Logan Morrison, Toronto's Brett Wallace, Oakland's Chris Carter, Atlanta's Freddie Freeman and Cincinnati's Yonder Alonso, and just ahead of Boston's Lars Anderson. A Mets official, upon Davis' call-up last week, cautioned against raising expectations. Referring to Heyward, the official said of Davis, "He's not that kind of prospect.''
You can't tell that to Mets fans now, not after Davis started his career by excelling at the plate and helping the Mets to six wins in his first seven games. He also powered his first big league home run on Friday, 450 feet to the faraway Citi bridge in right-center field. "I've only seen one other player hit it there and that was Carlos Delgado,'' one NL scout said. "But one difference between the two is this: Davis can really play first base.
Davis said he couldn't be sure it was the farthest ball he's ever hit since he said he swings hard every time and has connected that sweetly a few times before. But he didn't seem too concerned about it. Davis, the son of former Yankees relief star Ron Davis, has impressed in the clubhouse with an unassuming manner. He said he held no illusions his big spring would land him on the team, fully understood the Mets' call to go with the more experienced Mike Jacobs and wasn't expecting to be anything beyond "maybe a September call-up."
With Davis already in the majors, and already thriving, Manuel and the Mets brass have reason to be excited, though they aren't getting ahead of themselves. "He's smooth, he's rhythmic, he has soft hands and he really gets extended when he hits -- so that means power,'' Manuel said. "The test will come when he goes around [the league] a couple times.''
Mets fans eager for a new hero aren't going to wait that long. They are already crediting Davis for the Mets' sudden hot streak that has them back above .500 for the first time since Opening Day. But Davis' ascension happened to come shortly after the return of the team's most important player, shortstop Jose Reyes, plus Manuel's prescient decision to switch from Gary Matthews Jr. to Angel Pagan in center field. A Mets official said the team's "energy'' returned the same time Reyes did. But the fans, perhaps wary of all the injured Mets, seem to view Davis as nearly as important a figure.
While Mets people were guarding against the label of "savior'' being applied, nobody sees any sign the attention is going to Davis' head. "He's got all the tools, there's no question about it,'' David Wright said. "But the best thing about him is he hasn't bought into all the hype surrounding his call-up. That's more impressive than what he's done on the field.''
Heyward and Davis are far from the only young stars drawing praise in a year that may wind up being recalled for its sterling rookie class, even if not all the best ones have reached the majors yet.
The Nationals' Stephen Strasburg, last year's No. 1 overall drat choice, has been overpowering at Double-A Harrisburg, going 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. Washington GM Mike Rizzo cautiously warned that Strasburg wasn't ready when he kept him off the major league roster toward the end of spring training, but everyone figures he will be up with the big club by June 1, after three to four starts each at both Double-A and Triple-A. The Nationals plan to have Strasburg throw around 130 innings this year, with about two-thirds of them coming at the big-league level, assuming he continues his minor-league domination.
The Reds' Cuban import Aroldis Chapman has also been terrific so far, though he probably doesn't have the maturity of some of the other phenoms. Legend has it he complained about the early bids for him, telling people that if he wasn't going to get $60 million for his troubles that maybe he should have stayed in Cuba, a legend that was verified by someone who knows him well. Nonetheless, Chapman has a 0.60 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings at Triple-A Louisville, numbers that could at least tempt the Reds to bring him up, considering how poorly their rotation has fared thus far. Chapman has been so dominant early that he's evoking comparisons to a young Randy Johnson.
There is a temptation, even a danger, in making such declarations. As Glaus pointed out, there's a very good reason the great prospects are often still compared to Mickey Mantle, and it's because no one has come along in "50 some years'' to top Mantle in terms of talent. As talented as Heyward is, he's not Mickey Mantle.

At least, not yet.



Strasburg by June?????
www.si.com
Stephen Strasburg is coming. The Washington Nationals have been guarded about their plans for Strasburg, the top pick in last June's draft, who signed for a record $15.1 million out of San Diego State. But he will not be with Harrisburg, in Class AA, much longer. After an apprenticeship for Class AAA Syracuse, Strasburg is expected to be in the majors by June. He is clearly ready for a promotion: after firing five no-hit innings in his fourth start on Tuesday, Strasburg is 3-0 with a 0.52 earned run average. His single drove in the only run in a 1-0 victory, and he now has 23 strikeouts and 3 walks in 17 1/3 innings.


MLB Power Rankings April 26-30th
1 (2) Rays 14-5 Carl Crawford has been caught stealing three times so far. In 2009, he was caught stealing for the third time on June 6.
2 (1) Yankees 12-6 Fun with statistics: The lowest payroll among the eight highest revenue teams, measured in terms of percentage of total team revenues, belongs to the Yankees, right in line with league average. (Jason Rosenberg, It's About The Money)
3 (4) Twins 13-6 It might be safe to say Justin Morneau's back is fully healed. He's among the league leaders in most offensive categories and has already drawn 20 walks, leading to a robust .511 on-base percentage. (Nick Nelson, Nick's Twins Blog)
4 (3) Phillies 11-7 The offense has slumped over the past seven games, averaging just three runs per game. Starting pitching has been the silver lining. (Bill Baer, Crashburn Alley)
5 (5) Cardinals 11-7 The Cardinals lost their first series of the year (to the Giants), but Colby Rasmus continues to emerge (team-leading .466 wOBA) and Chris Carpenter allayed Week 1 concerns about health with back-to-back double-digit strikeout starts. (Matt Philip, Fungoes)
6 (9) Athletics 12-8 Daric Barton, hitting .328 with a .488 OBP, fractured his middle finger Sunday. It's unknown if he'll miss time.
7 (21) Padres 11-7 The Padres have outscored their opponents 27-10 in the fourth inning of games this year. (Geoff Young, Ducksnorts)
8 (6) Giants 10-8 The Giants' offense has been a problem this past week as the team averaged only 1.6 runs per game while going 2-4. (Chris Quick, Bay City Ball)
9 (7) Marlins 10-9 Dan Uggla averages one strikeout every 3.87 ABs for his career. His average in 2010? One K every 6.45 ABs.
10 (15) Angels 10-10 Brandon Wood's two-run double Sunday accounted for his first extra-base hit and his first two RBIs of the season.
11 (10) Rockies 10-9 The Rockies have opened the season with three straight series wins at Coors Field for the first time since 2003.
12 (11) Tigers 10-9 Tigers fans thought Dontrelle Willis was the rotation's weakest link, but right now Rick Porcello's struggles are more alarming: 1-2, 7.91 ERA plus 33 hits in just 19 IP. (Mike McClary, The Daily Fungo)
13 (12) Blue Jays 10-9 Adam Lind, who struck out three times Sunday, has gone 3-for-22 (.136) with nine strikeouts over the past week.
14 (13) Red Sox 8-11 Though the Red Sox call themselves victors of four of their past six games, there's only so much love to go around when they outscore the 3-16 Orioles by a total of one run over three games. (Mike Silver, Fire Brand of the AL)
15 (18) Mariners 9-10 The Mariners have slumped under .500 thanks to a bullpen that's proving its volatility and to minor injuries to the fragile Jack Wilson and Milton Bradley. (Jon Shields, Pro Ball NW)