Ubaldo Jimenez is the Truth

Rockies SP Ubaldo Jimenez may be running away with the NL Cy Young race this year, even though it is barely June. In a Memorial Day matchup against his toughest competition, two-time defending Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, Jimenez casually hurled 9 shutout innings complete with 9 K’s to secure a 4-0 victory. Entering yesterday Jimenez was one of only 3 MLB pitchers in history to notch 9 wins and have an ERA under 1.00 in their first 10 starts. After yesterday Jimenez earned his 10^th win of the season in 11 starts and lowered his already stellar, league-leading ERA to 0.78 (the record for a season is 1.12 set by Bob Gibson in 1968) and his league-leading WHIP to 0.90. He also leads the Majors is opponent’s batting average limiting opposing hitter to a paltry .178 and has given up a total of 7 runs in more than 80 innings (his 70 K’s to 26 BBs over that span ain’t too shabby either) not to mention the No-Hitter he threw in April against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. What makes Jimenez’s stat-sheet all the more impressive is that he has been pitching Coors Field, widely regarded as the most hitter-friendly ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Watching the 6’4” righty pitch yesterday was like watching a master artist compose. Jimenez has a 5-pitch repertoire that is highlighted by a 4-seam fastball  that pushes into the upper 90s. He also has a deadly, hard slider and a change-up that can make a hitter look foolish if he catches him looking for the heater. His 4-seam is complimented by a mid-90s two-seamer and a splitter he uses to change the pace. Jimenez works fast, changes speeds, moves all over the plate and throws strikes. He is at very top of his game and while it’s unfeasible to extrapolate the success he has had over the first two months of the season I have a hard time imagining any pitcher can overtake him for the Cy Young in the National League (unless Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies can pull another perfect game out of his hat, which I wouldn’t put past him). If you have to opportunity to catch an Ubaldo Jimenez start I suggest you take it, right now he embodies pitching at its finest.