Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Astros sweep the Cubs and Lyles shows promise

I apologize for not posting the past few days, I've been helping my girlfriend house sit so I'm not on my regular schedule. As I mentioned in the title, the Astros swept the Cubs today inching them closer and closer to leaving the bottom of the NL Central. I'm happy to see the Astros clicking some but the big story in this series was Jordan Lyles major league debut. I meant to post yesterday concerning Lyles first major league start but I didn't get a chance so I'll do it now.

This is the only card of Lyles I have as of now but I plan on getting more as he progresses through his career.

For those of you who don't know, Jordan Lyles is the Astros top pitching prospect and was part of ESPN's 2011 Top 100 prospects. He doesn't have an overpowering fastball but his change up and curve are pretty ridiculous. Last night's performance was great for his debut but the starts that matter more to me are 2-5 where I can get an average of his stuff. If last night was any indication of his future then Lyles will be the silver lining during the upcoming rebuilding era of the Astros. Below is Lyles' line from last night:

7.0 IP/5 H/2 R/2 ER/0 BB/4 K/2.57 ERA

Those are some pretty good numbers for a pitcher's MLB debut. Sure he is only making a couple of more starts until Wandy Rodriguez gets back from the DL but it will be nice to see how good this young guy can be in the majors. 

Did I mention he is 20 years old??? That's just absurd to think about for me. I know a lot of guys have debuted in the majors at that age but it's hard to think about a guy 3 years younger than me living the dream like that. Makes me a bit jealous, ha. Also, he got his debut at Wrigley Field which is something most kids only dream about. Not only did he get his first MLB debut but he also got his first hit in the majors. It's always fun to see a pitcher get a hit but even more so when it's in his first game.

This got me thinking, which prospects from your favorite team are you most excited to see? Leave a comment and let me know.

No comments: