August 19, 200916 yr The Giants weren't supposed to have enough hitting tocomplement their great pitching. The Marlins were said to be too young.The Rangers were at least a year away. And the Rockies, well, theyappeared to be buried back in May. Only the Marlins had a winningrecord a year ago, but they're all now genuine threats to play beyondthe first week of October. At week's end only two games separated theRockies, Giants and Marlins in the NL wild-card race, and the Rangershad overtaken Boston in the AL race. Here's a closer look at baseball'smost surprising contenders. ROCKIES What to like: Through Sunday the rotation was seventhin the majors with a 4.09 ERA, the lowest in franchise history by 49points. Troy Tulowitzki (18 homers since June 6) has rediscovered hisstroke from his rookie year in 2007. The club's run differential of +76is the game's sixth best. Surprise stat: The Rox are baseball's only team with four double-digit winners, and their 71 quality starts tops the majors. Unsung heroes: The bullpen. In the last year G.M. DanO'Dowd has acquired a closer (Huston Street), setup man (RafaelBetancourt) and lefty specialist (Joe Beimel) without giving up much.Betancourt hasn't allowed a run in nine appearances, and the pen's ERA,4.79 before his July 23 acquisition from Cleveland, is 3.46 since. What to worry about: They still have huge home-road offensive splits (48 points of batting average and 124 points of OPS). Playoff odds: Even MARLINS What to like: Their ace, Josh Johnson (12--2, 2.85ERA), is in the Cy Young discussion; shortstop Hanley Ramirez (10multihit games in 11 games since Aug. 5) is giving the team theproduction expected of a superstar; and rookie leadoff man ChrisCoghlan (a .420 hitter this month) is providing an unexpected boost.Also, Nick Johnson, a deadline addition from the Nationals, has a .500OBP with his new team. Surprise stat: Despite the loss of Kevin Gregg, last season's closer, the bullpen's 3.74 ERA is ninth best in the majors. Unsung heros: Dan Meyer and Kiko Calero. The tworelievers were cut loose by the A's within five months of each other in'08 but have emerged as forces in the Marlins' pen. Calero is strikingout 11 batters per nine, and Meyer has a 2.76 ERA. What to worry about: Their defense, long a problem, is still trouble (74 errors, ninth most in the majors). Playoff odds: 5 to 2. GIANTS What to like: That their starters, led by Tim Lincecumand Matt Cain, have the best ERA in baseball (3.56) is no news flash.That their relievers (3.42) do as well is a huge one. Surprise stat: Everybody knows what a collection of free swingers they are, but to have only 2.2 walks per game is absurd. Unsung hero: Pitching coach Dave Righetti. Sure, hehas the game's best one-two starting combo, but the consistency of therest of the staff has been remarkable. The suddenly stalwart bullpenranked in the bottom third of most major categories last season. What to worry about: Even with the summer pickups ofRyan Garko and Freddy Sanchez, the Giants are last in runs scored sincethe All-Star break. Overall they're 29th in runs and homers, and lastin OPS. Playoff odds: 5 to 1. RANGERS What to like: Their rotation has been brilliant. Thestaff's 4.13 ERA, 124 points lower than last year's, is the eighth bestin baseball. They don't hit for a high average, but they've blendedpower and speed nicely. Surprise stat: Through Sunday the Rangers had 106stolen bases, the third most in baseball, and their 84.1% success ratewas first. (They are also 9--3 against the Angels, 7--2 against the RedSox.) Unsung heroes: Scott Feldman and Tommy Hunter. Therighty-lefty power combo of Neftali Feliz (16 strikeouts, no walks, twohits allowed in his first 8 2/3 innings) and Derek Holland is thefuture of the rotation, but Feldman, 26, and Hunter, 23 (a combined17--6 with a 3.41 ERA), have kept manager Ron Washington from beingtempted to rush his prize young arms. What to worry about: Thought to have an excess ofquality catchers, the Rangers have gotten little production from theposition, and now Jarrod Saltalamacchia is on the DL with shoulderfatigue. Playoff odds: 7 to 5. Now on SI.com Joe Posnanski and Bill James debate all things baseball every Monday at SI.com/bonus http://sportsillustr...234/3/index.htm Thoughts?
August 19, 200916 yr I'm likin the credit we deserve Call me crazy but I think our rotation is fine. JJ is the ace. Ricky has finally figured it out after the short stint in the minors. West has improved after coming back from the minors and I actually trust him more than Vandenhurk. If anibal comes back and performs the way we all expected him to (near his 2007 form) he could be a beast. As for volstad, he just needs to keep the ball down low. We are just fine.
August 19, 200916 yr Author I'm likin the credit we deserve Call me crazy but I think our rotation is fine. JJ is the ace. Ricky has finally figured it out after the short stint in the minors. West has improved after coming back from the minors and I actually trust him more than Vandenhurk. If anibal comes back and performs the way we all expected him to (near his 2007 form) he could be a beast. As for volstad, he just needs to keep the ball down low. We are just fine. eh.
August 19, 200916 yr I would say the "loss" of Kevin Gregg is the reason for the bullpen's low ERA. I'd say you're wrong considering he posted a 3.54 ERA and a 3.41 ERA in his 2 years here.
August 19, 200916 yr Our defense has been pretty solid as of late. Only worries there are Cantu at 3rd and Johnson to be healthy at 1st. We need to worry about the back end of our rotation, mainly the 4 a 5 spots which I hope West and Anibal can pitch well and at least keep us in the games going into the 5th or 6th inning which is all we need from them. J.J., Nolasco and Volstad are fine.
August 19, 200916 yr I like how the article mentions Meyer and Calero. In the beginning of the season, our bullpen was viewed as a major weakness and these two guys have helped make it successful.
August 19, 200916 yr Our bullpen looks even better if you take out assholes like Kensing, Penn, Leroux, Ayala, and Dave Davidson. Those guys combined gave up more than 10% of our team's total runs in about 5% of our innings.
August 20, 200916 yr I'm likin the credit we deserve Call me crazy but I think our rotation is fine. JJ is the ace. Ricky has finally figured it out after the short stint in the minors. West has improved after coming back from the minors and I actually trust him more than Vandenhurk. If anibal comes back and performs the way we all expected him to (near his 2007 form) he could be a beast. As for volstad, he just needs to keep the ball down low. We are just fine. You're crazy.
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