Crack of the Bat
by Patrick Ebert

Price on the big stage

David Price, the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, was given the opportunity to become a household name when Rays manager Joe Maddon handed him the ball in game seven of the American League Championship Series with four outs to go against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

With David Ortiz standing at second base, and Kevin Youkilis standing at first, Price promptly struck out J.D. Drew to close out the eighth inning to end the Red Sox scoring threat with the Rays holding onto a 3-1 lead.

He came back out in the ninth inning, adding drama to the situation by issuing a leadoff walk to Jason Bay. He quickly regained his composure by striking out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek before inducing a game-ending ground ball to Jed Lowrie.

With only 14 regular season innings under his belt, Price didn’t miss a beat. His stuff was spot-on, not bothering with his changeup being used out of the bullpen, while throwing heat (97 mph) and his wicked slider.

This is a big part of what has made the Rays so special all year long. They have lifted their games when the situation called for it the most, never intimidated by the tried and true Red Sox team despite the amount of incredibly young and relatively inexperienced players the Rays’ roster boasts.

Price’s success has immediately turned the Rays bullpen from a perceived weakness (at least as compared to the Phillies) to possibly a wash between the two teams. Facing a Phillies lineup that has a pair of feared left-handed sluggers in Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, Price’s emergence couldn’t have come at a better time.

Rookie Sluggers

Fellow rookie Evan Longoria also played a big part in the Rays success this season, although he was providing big hits for the team since the second week of the regular season.

Watching Longoria play, and more specifically hit, it’s easy to see him being a very productive player for a very long time. He has all of the traits of a perennial all-star that should be among the league leaders in the major statistical, run-producing categories. He did miss roughly a month of the season due to a broken bone in his right wrist, an injury that often can sap a slugger’s power for extended periods of time, but he returned strong, slugging .522 over the final month of the season.

If it weren’t for the time he missed in August and early September, he likely would have easily eclipsed 100 RBI. He still finished tied for 24^th in the American League in that category with 85, while also finishing tied for 13^th in home runs (27) and eighth in slugging percentage (.531).

While Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox also had a very impressive rookie campaign, and he too helped propel his team to the playoffs, Longoria is a no-brainer to be selected as this year’s AL rookie of the year.

In the National League, Geovany Soto had an equal impact to his team, the Chicago Cubs, that Longoria did. He was named the Cubs starting catcher to open the season, and played in an impressive 141 games, all but four of those being played behind the dish. In fact, seven of the games he didn’t appear in came late in the season when the Cubs had already clinched a postseason berth.

Overall he finished by batting .285/.364/.504 with 35 doubles, 23 home runs and 86 RBI while throwing out roughly 75% of would-be basestealers. His .868 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) was second only to Brian McCann in all of Major League Baseball among catchers.

Having followed Soto rather closely given my interest in the National League Central division I got to see how important Soto was to his team. Not only did he flourish at the plate, but he starred behind it, handling one of the league’s more talented pitching staff. The Cubs and their fans have to be ecstatic that they have an impact player at a position where such players are incredibly hard to come by. His durability and leadership makes him that much more valuable, and joins young players such as Brian McCann, Russell Martin and Joe Mauer as the brightest young stars from behind the plate in the game.

Cubs Quick Exit

I don’t think it is a secret that when I put my fan hat on that I root for the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Cubs an immediate foe. However, I was very surprised to see them booted from the playoffs so quickly, and convincingly, since I felt since about mid-season that they would represent the National League in the World Series.

What went wrong? Well, it didn’t help that they faced the red-hot Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs. It’s hard to blame the players, or the manager, Lou Piniella, since the team played so incredibly well, posting the second best record in baseball with a .602 winning percentage, and they had the greatest run differential (+184) of any team in all of Major League Baseball.

They were solid in all three aspects of the game, hitting, pitching and defense, so it’s hard to say in what area they need to improve. International free agent acquisition Kosuke Fukudome was a disappointment, but he can’t be pointed to as the reason for their struggles. The bullpen appeared to be shaky at times, but which team didn’t go through periods in which their bullpen wasn’t as rock solid as it could be?

I know this month hasn’t been very kind to Cubs fans, with many of their own players predicting in spring training that the Cubbies would win the World Series. I know the old adage says “there’s always next year,” but this year it must be difficult to take comfort in that.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.