Anyone Noticed James Shields’ Stellar Pitching?
May 4th, 2007 by pat
Quick….who is tied with Johan Santana for the most strikeouts?
Yup….James Shields of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Surprisingly owned in ONLY 66% of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues.
Shields’ season-line thus far: 43.1 IP, 3W, 9BB, 45K’s, 3.74 ERA, 1.02 WHIP.
Last night Shields proved his mettle against the solid Twins lineup. The highlight being working out of a 5th inning bases-loaded jam.
Faced with bases-loaded and no outs Shields was looking at Joe Mauer in the batters box and Justin Morneau in the on-deck circle. Not a great situation for any pitcher. Seeking a DP ball, Shields managed to strikeout Mauer and coaxed a DP groundball out from Morneau.
(ED: thanks for the correction Cork)
If he is still on the waiver-wire in your league…you know what to do.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 4th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
(note: it was bases loaded and NO outs. He got Mourneau to GIDP)
Shields is not a fluke. He is the real deal and I have been screaming it at the top of my lungs all season. Kazmir is great but Shields is the Rays ace because he is more consistent. He’ll give 7+ innings with 8+ strikeouts every time he takes the mound. You never know when Kazmir has to be pulled in the 5th bc he alread has 110 pitches. Now if they could just get some bullpen help.
May 4th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Thanks for the correction Cork….
I agree with you on both points. When do you forsee Niemann being a factor?
May 4th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Before the season i would have said Niemann would be up by June. The problem is, the Rays have 5 legit starting pitching prospects at AAA, and right now Jason Hammel will probably get the first call. Hammel made a couple of starts for the Rays last season when others were on the DL and got knocked around pretty good. This year, he has taken it to another level (2.48 ERA, 39 Ks in 32 inn). He has more experience than the others which gives him a slight edge to be first call up. They also have JP Howell who was the last cut in spring and Mitch Talbot and Andy Sonnanstine (2.70 era, 37 ks in 30 inn). Currently the Rays have the two worst pitchers in baseball. Casey Fossum and Jae Seo hogging spots in the rotation. They both need to be moved and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. Moving one opens a spot for Hammel. When the second is moved it will open a spot for Niemann and unfortunately that might not happen until mid-July
February 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
paris hilton celebrity sex tape videos…
Recently leaked footage of the new Paris Hilton sex tape…