Chris Davis Makes Baltimore Orioles History

During yesterdays game versus the Yankees Chris Davis made some Baltimore Orioles history. Davis who is having a fantastic season became the 1^st player in Orioles history to have ever hit for 40 home runs and 40 doubles in a season with his double in in Wednesdays 5-4 loss to the Yankees. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for a guy playing for an organization with the tradition and amount of great players the Orioles have had in their franchises history. I'm actually surprised that a guy like Eddie Murray has never done that but that just speaks to the season Davis is having this year, so congratulations Chris Davis!

Miguel Cabrera Is The Michael Jordan Of Baseball

Miguel Cabrera is head and shoulders above just about every hitter in baseball right now and what he is doing now is the stuff of legend. In fact I may even go as far as saying that he is the Michael Jordan of baseball as far as individual talent and accolades go. Now as we know Cabrera captured the 1^st Triple Crown since 1967 last season but he has a chance to become the first player to ever capture back to back triple crowns this year.

Think about that for a second, in the 100+ years of baseball no player has ever dominated at such a level to where they lead the league in batting  average, home runs and RBI’s in consecutive seasons. That speaks volumes to the hitter Cabrera is that he even has the opportunity to do something like this. I have always said even dating back to his Marlins days that Miguel Cabrera was the purest, most complete hitter in baseball. As soon as he matured he began to prove me right and has shown who he is at his zenith. We are witnessing greatness and for all the negativity surrounding the game with performance enhancing drugs, I think more attention needs to be paid to the positivity he represents in the game right now.

 He still needs to catch Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis who has 47 home runs, if he can do that Cabrera could have arguably the greatest triple crown season in the history of baseball. Its going to be a tough task catching Davis who seemingly seems to hit a home run every time Miguel inches a bit closer but keep in mind its only 4 home runs and we know how quickly Miggy can get hot. The next month will make for some exciting baseball seeing Cabrera trying to make history.

Like I said earlier Cabrera could arguably the greatest season ever by a triple crown winner ever. People who are educated on the history of the award and the stats of some of the winners like Lou Gehrig Or Jimmie Foxx might see that as blasphemy but just here me out. Take a look at the stats below from 2 of the greatest Triple Crown seasons ever.

Jimmie Foxx 1933  356./48 HR/163 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1934    363./49 HR/165 RBI

Flat out gaudy numbers that will be hard to touch, even for a guy like Miguel Cabrera but lets take a look of Cabrera’s numbers as of August 31^st.

(As of August 31^st 2013)

Miguel Cabrera 2013   359./43 HR/130 RBI

Now as we look at those stats right now it looks similar to Gehrig and Foxx (excluding RBI’s). The 2 greatest triple crown seasons are in the same category as Cabrera. No disrespect to the era that those guys played in but pitching in this era is on an entirely different level then those guys saw. Velocity is higher, pitchers change speeds more efficiently and there are more teams around the league so he isn’t as familiar with all the pitchers in the league to the degree that Gehrig and Foxx were.

Now I have done some math and have calculated based on monthly averages what Cabrera final stat line will look like at the end of this season. Let me break it down 1^st Cabrera Averages 21 RBI’s 8 Homeruns,35 Hits and 97 at bats per month after you add up all his totals from previous months and divide. If you add that to his current total this is what his final stat line in 2013 will look like.

( Final Stat line For 2013)

Miguel Cabrera 2013  362./51 HR/151 RBI’s

So as we look at that and compare it to Gehrig and Foxx he hits for a higher batting average than them as well as hit more homeruns than them. Granted there are many variables that play a role in the final outcome such the execution of his monthly averages and his health. Regardless of whether he wins the Triple Crown or not, if he finishes with a stat total that looks like that it cements his place as the greatest hitter of the generation. If he actually catches Chris Davis in homeruns this month and wins the Triple Crown then that’s just a bonus.

We are watching history in the making and if you are a hardcore baseball fan you can look at his season with the proper perspective.

Jose Fernandez Is A Big Time Pitcher

The Miami Marlins are by no stretch of the imagination this year a good baseball team but like any struggling team they have a few bright spots and the brightest happens to come in the form of rookie 21 year old right hand pitcher Jose Fernandez. Here is some background Fernandez.

• Drafted 14^th overall in 2011 by the Marlins
• Never picthed above A ball before this season started
• Became only the 7^th player in MLB history under the age of 21 to record at least 8 strikeouts in his debut since 1916
• Named an to the all-star game at 20 years old
• Struck out Dustin Pedroia and Chris Davis at the all-star game.

So odds are you aren't familiar with Jose Fernandez but that’s ok because most of the baseball world is slowly but surely figuring out who he is. Prior to the season starting the Marlins had a shortage of arms in the starting rotation so they rushed Fernandez to the big leagues and named him as the opening day starter. I was very critical of that move because this was a guy who hadn't pitched above A ball and now he his the opening day starter against the New York Mets, it's a pretty big jump. Fernandez quickly put to bed any doubt of good he would be for the rest of the season with a performance of 5 innings pitched 3 hits, 1 earned run and 8 strikeouts.

When you watch him pitch Fernandez does a great job establishing his fastball command and sets up his secondary pitches very well. Many baseball experts have compared Fernandez to Seattle Mariners all-star Felix Hernandez. People who aren't familiar with Fernandez might disagree but if you watch both of them pitch they have a lot of similarities. Fernandez like King Felix sets up hitters very well and can bury you with multiple pitches. He can thrown it by you with his fats ball or paint the outside corner with his curve ball. The Comparison is valid.

Statistically when you look at Jose Fernandez he is even more impressive. He has an 8-5 record on the worst team in the national league. The Marlins are not an offensive juggernaut in fact its hard to get run support when the whole team collectively has scored the 363 runs the entire season which ranks them dead last in baseball. So to be 3 games over 500 as a pitcher for them is impressive. Recently in the last few weeks he did something very historic. In his July 28^th and August 2^nd starts he faced 2 quality teams in the National league leading Pittsburgh Pirates and then then Cleveland Indians who are in the playoff hunt. In his start against the Pirates he has a very good outing going 8 innings giving up 2 earned runs on 5 hits with 13 strikeouts for a win. You think to yourself “ wow he can't pitch any better then that” well your wrong. Very next start against the Indians he goes 8 innings only allows 3 hits, collects 14 strikeouts and shuts out the Indians. So do the math 14+13=27 Jose Fernandez in 2 starts struck out 27 hitters. Thats just ridiculous for a guy his age to be doing that. In doing that he put his name in some elite company (see tweets below).

Jose Fernandez is the 4th-youngest pitcher with consecutive 13-strikeout games since 1900. Check out the list: pic.twitter.com/vNtAP655jj

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 3, 2013

As you can see Fernandez put his name in same company with some former all-stars but he also has his opponents in aw of him. Rays manager Joe Maddon who is one of the best in baseball praised Fernandez.

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) May 31, 2013

 So the word on Jose Fernandez is finally getting out and if healthy it looks like the Marlins have an ace for years to come. The only question is how many years before he gets traded?