ON Monday, the Cards’ Bud Smith no-hit the Padres, C.C. Sabathia became the first Indian rookie in 46 years to reach 15 wins and Colorado’s Jason Jennings won his third road game in 12 days as a major leaguer.
On Tuesday, Florida’s Josh Beckett made his major-league debut by holding the Cubs to one hit in six shutout innings, Roy Oswalt set an Astro rookie record with his 13th victory and Mark Buehrle of the White Soxlowered his AL-best ERA to 2.99.
What do these pitchers have in common? None is older than the 24 Oswalt turned nine days ago. Now we could make a Danny Almonte joke about age and pitching. But the search for young guns is always deadly serious, and Florida, Houston and Oakland, particularly, have proven there are precocious arms to be found despite the constant carping that they are non-existent.
At mid-week, there already were 16 pitchers 25-and-under who had double-digits in either wins or saves. When we asked major-league executives to help us with a top-10 list of 25-and-under hurlers, the decision-makers were impressed with the depth of choices.
Now, with arms there must always be caution. If we made this list last year Rick Ankiel, Gil Meche, Jim Parque and Scott Williamson very possibly would have been on it and that group missed all or almost all of this season. Also, Adam Eaton, Ben Sheets and Kerry Wood have experienced problems this year, which did not prevent Sheets and Wood from getting plenty of votes.
The only pitcher developed by the Mets to get serious consideration was Astro set-up man supreme Octavio Dotel, while Expo starter Tony Armas was the only Yankee farm product to receive plenty of support, though it should be noted Eric Milton turned 26 last month and was exempt from this exercise.
The list:
1. Freddy Garcia, Mariners – One scout called him “a horse who knows how to pitch.” Two wins vs. the Yanks in last year’s ALCS shows his grit. Seattle got him for Randy Johnson, which means, in retrospect, an ace-for-an-ace deal. Turns 25 next month and already has 41 major-league wins – and counting.
2. Mark Mulder, A’s – The second pick in the 1998 draft leads the AL in shutouts (4). His curve is back, and that has made his fastball a dynamic pitch. Poise, intelligence, size.
3. Barry Zito, A’s – Another Oakland lefty, who one scout said has a better breaking ball than David Wells had in 1998, explaining, “it has unbelievable depth. Hitters just quit on it.”
A flake who loves to compete. The A’s have Mulder and Zito, and the only reason Tim Hudson isn’t listed is that he turned 26 in July.
4. Roy Oswalt, Astros – A tip of the cap to the folks who put the Olympic team together since the main starters – Oswalt, Sheets and Giant Kurt Ainsworth – all got consideration for this list. Reds first baseman Sean Casey called Oswalt, “the best I’ve faced this year.”
5. Ryan Dempster, Marlins – “A horse like Garcia, but with more wildness. Still, I would start my rotation with him any day,” a scout said.
With Dempster, Beckett, A.J. Burnett and Brad Penny – all 25 or under – Florida has a rotation to envy.
6. Javier Vazquez, Expos – Look at this progression: 5-15, 6.06 ERA; 9-8, 5.05; 11-9, 4.05; and 15-11, 3.35.
Has not let the dourness of being an Expo impede him from becoming an athletic, No. 1 starter.
7. C.C. Sabathia, Indians – Just 21, he has gotten better as the season has progressed. Does not have the greatest feel for pitching. But he is sharp, has presence and size (6-foot-7, 260 pounds).
8. Wade Miller, Astros – Just consider the Astros have developed Miller, Oswalt, Garcia plus under-25ers Carlos Hernandez, Tim Redding, Scott Elarton and Tony McKnight. Pretty darn impressive.
9. Mark Buehrle, White Sox – A finesse lefty with enough fastball to make it work, the ability to execute a game plan, poise and smarts. That is the m.o. for guys like Tom Glavine and Jimmy Key.
Bud Smith, the Cardinals’ no-hit man, has less fastball, but a similar reputation.
10. Josh Beckett, Marlins – The second pick of the 1999 draft has just one major-league start, but an AL GM ranked him second and an NL GM ranked him sixth.
The AL GM said, “The proto-type power guy, this is how you draw them up in your mind – size, lightning arm and three above-average pitches.”
Beckett, 14-1 in the minors this year, made the list over such honorable mentions as Danys Baez, Kelvim Escobar, Byung-Hyun Kim, Joe Mays and Ramon Ortiz.
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THE SWEET 16
The 16 pitchers who are 25 or under with either double-digit wins or saves (stats are through Wednesday):
Mark Buehrle, White Sox – 13-7, 2.99
Ryan Dempster, Marlins – 15-11, 4.33
Freddie Garcia, Mariners – 15-5, 3.09
Joe Mays, Twins – 14-13, 3.40
Wade Miller, Astros – 15-7, 3.65
Mark Mulder, A’s – 17-7, 3.48
Ramon Ortiz, Angels – 11-8, 4.37
Roy Oswalt, Astros – 13-2, 2.68
C.C. Sabathia, Indians – 15-4, 4.36
Ben Sheets, Brewers – 10-9, 4.79
Javier Vazquez, Expos – 15-11, 3.35
Jeff Weaver, Tigers – 10-14, 3.99
Kerry Wood, Cubs – 10-6, 3.50
Barry Zito, A’s – 12-8, 3.70
Matt Anderson, Tigers – 17 saves
Byung-Hyun Kim, D-backs – 15 saves