Top 5 pitchers under 25

Though not unheard of, it is very difficult for young pitchers -- particularly those who have yet to reach their 25th birthday -- to make much of an impact at the Major League level. After the initial advantage of hitters' unfamiliarity, the learning curve for pitchers breaking into the league is usually two or three years.

 

The exceptions are those youngsters who display ability beyond their years, like Ryan Wagner, Jeremy Affeldt, Jake Peavy and Carlos Zambrano. All talented, all young.

 

The following, however, are the best pitchers under 25 in baseball:

1. Mark Prior, 23 [Career: 24-12, 2.74]

Already Cy Young caliber, the Cubs' Prior is in a class by himself

 

2. Josh Beckett, 23 [Career: 17-17, 3.32]

Perfecting the curve made Beckett an ace with the World Series champs

 

3. C.C. Sabathia, 23 [Career: 43-25, 4.12]

The Tribe's ace at 23 showed better command of offspeed stuff in '03

 

4. Edwin Jackson, 20 [Career: 2-1, 2.45]

The Dodgers' Jackson could lead the league in strikeouts some day

 

5. Dontrelle Willis, 22 [Career: 14-6, 3.30]

The Marlins' D-Train slowed late in the season, but he's still exceptional

2 out of 5

 

watch out, MLB, the marlins are coming

edwin jackson? He's made 3 starts his entire career. And Sabathia should be #2

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown

i agree on the fat bum and the 4 run era, but the man wins....... nuff said

He's just jealous that Beckett manhandled Bonds, then Sosa, and then the Yanks...

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Yeah as we all know Josh Beckett is The Ironman of Baseball.

 

Take off your Homer Glasses and look at the facts, Josh Beckett healthy, runs laps around Sabathia.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia. so? Sabathia: .632 lifetime winning percentage, Beckett .500 lifetime winning percentage.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia. so? Sabathia: .632 lifetime winning percentage, Beckett .500 lifetime winning percentage. First of all Sabathia played on a better team up until last year. Second, Beckett really wasn't ever healthy until last season, and when he was healthy he was a top 5 pitcher in the league.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia. so? Sabathia: .632 lifetime winning percentage, Beckett .500 lifetime winning percentage. First of all Sabathia played on a better team up until last year. Second, Beckett really wasn't ever healthy until last season, and when he was healthy he was a top 5 pitcher in the league. even last year when beckett had a much better offense and defense, Sabathia had a better record. And the fact that Beckett's injury prone, that's another thing against him.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia. so? Sabathia: .632 lifetime winning percentage, Beckett .500 lifetime winning percentage. First of all Sabathia played on a better team up until last year. Second, Beckett really wasn't ever healthy until last season, and when he was healthy he was a top 5 pitcher in the league. even last year when beckett had a much better offense and defense, Sabathia had a better record. And the fact that Beckett's injury prone, that's another thing against him. So Beckett is supposed to control how much run support he gets?

The simple fact is C.C. Sabathia is very good. He wins, as said before. Yeah, he's ERA is a little high, but he's still young. He's going to develop consistency and it will go down.

 

Calling him a fat bum is ignorance. All you have to do is watch the kid pitch a few times to know how stupid that comment is.

 

Also, you should note his ERA dropped from 4.37 in 2002 to 3.60 in 2003.

So Beckett is supposed to control how much run support he gets?

Yes, because Giants can't swallow the fact that Josh Beckett and The Marlins kicked his little team out of the playoffs.

And Sabathia should be #2

Give me a break - Sabathia is a fat bum with a bloated ERA above 4.00. He shouldn't even be included on this list.

 

:thumbdown Beckett's a lifetime .500 pitcher while Sabathia's a lifetime .632 pitcher. They're the same age and played the same amount of seasons, and Sabathia's already 26 wins ahead, yet Beckett's better? Please. Beckett hasn't played near as many games as Sabathia, and has an ERA almost a run less than Sabathia. so? Sabathia: .632 lifetime winning percentage, Beckett .500 lifetime winning percentage. First of all Sabathia played on a better team up until last year. Second, Beckett really wasn't ever healthy until last season, and when he was healthy he was a top 5 pitcher in the league. even last year when beckett had a much better offense and defense, Sabathia had a better record. And the fact that Beckett's injury prone, that's another thing against him. So Beckett is supposed to control how much run support he gets? no, but a good pitcher is the kind that always gives up less than his team scores, and Beckett sucks at that, thus he's overated

no, but a good pitcher is the kind that always gives up less than his team scores, and Beckett sucks at that, thus he's overated

True.

 

We were screwed that game we only put 2 up against the Yankees in New York.

no, but a good pitcher is the kind that always gives up less than his team scores, and Beckett sucks at that, thus he's overated

lol, somebody's bitter about something. The simple fact is that Beckett is way better than Sabathia will ever be, and that's all that needs to be said.

i don't understand how beckett has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

i don't understand how beckett has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

yeah 2.11 postseason ERA, not to mention an ERA of 2.50 in the 2nd half of the season. what a fluke.

i don't understand how beckett? has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

yeah 2.11 postseason ERA, not to mention an ERA of 2.50 in the 2nd half of the season. what a fluke. 2-2 in the postseason. That's what matters

i don't understand how beckett? has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

yeah 2.11 postseason ERA, not to mention an ERA of 2.50 in the 2nd half of the season. what a fluke. 2-2 in the postseason. That's what matters he won all the important ones. :thumbup

 

And the games he did lose were against pitchers who were absolutely unhittable. He was our ace and he was facing the other team's best pitcher. His 2 losses he went a total of 14 1/3 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. Mussina and Schmidt were simply unhittable that day. There's nothing he can do about that.

 

I think you need to dig your head out of your ass and open your eyes. I don't care what his record is, if you can watch a game pitched by Josh Beckett and not realize the kid is an incredible pitcher, there is something wrong. Also, if this poll had anything to do with what these guys have done in the past Edwin Jackson wouldn't be on the list. It's about who will be the best pitcher in the future.

i don't understand how beckett? has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

yeah 2.11 postseason ERA, not to mention an ERA of 2.50 in the 2nd half of the season. what a fluke. 2-2 in the postseason. That's what matters he won all the important ones. :thumbup

 

And the games he did lose were against pitchers who were absolutely unhittable. He was our ace and he was facing the other team's best pitcher. His 2 losses he went a total of 14 1/3 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. Mussina and Schmidt were simply unhittable that day. There's nothing he can do about that.

 

I think you need to dig your head out of your ass and open your eyes. I don't care what his record is, if you can watch a game pitched by Josh Beckett and not realize the kid is an incredible pitcher, there is something wrong. Also, if this poll had anything to do with what these guys have done in the past Edwin Jackson wouldn't be on the list. It's about who will be the best pitcher in the future. potential means nothing. Beckett's got the talent but he doesn't get the job done enough.

i don't understand how beckett? has one fluke outing and everyone overates him now

yeah 2.11 postseason ERA, not to mention an ERA of 2.50 in the 2nd half of the season. what a fluke. 2-2 in the postseason. That's what matters he won all the important ones. :thumbup

 

And the games he did lose were against pitchers who were absolutely unhittable. He was our ace and he was facing the other team's best pitcher. His 2 losses he went a total of 14 1/3 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. Mussina and Schmidt were simply unhittable that day. There's nothing he can do about that.

 

I think you need to dig your head out of your ass and open your eyes. I don't care what his record is, if you can watch a game pitched by Josh Beckett and not realize the kid is an incredible pitcher, there is something wrong. Also, if this poll had anything to do with what these guys have done in the past Edwin Jackson wouldn't be on the list. It's about who will be the best pitcher in the future. potential means nothing. Beckett's got the talent but he doesn't get the job done enough. please get a better argument when you only have 34 decisions you can't base how good that pitcher is based on win/loss record simple as that.

At least Beckett had the balls to pitch on three days rest when his team needed him - unlike that b***h, Jason Schmidt, who didn't take the mound when Felipe needed him.

 

:hat