Ubaldo Jimenez

Rockies flame-thrower Ubaldo Jimenez set a World Baseball Classic record on Tuesday by striking out 10 batters in only four innings of work, the most ever by a starting pitcher in tournament history. Now, I have seen U-Ball get hot but not this hot. I mean, were talking Bar Rafaeli hot. He was consistently clocked at 97 and 98 mph while making the Nederland squad look like your typical 40 year old, beer drinking, knee brace wearing, company softball team. U-Ball surpassed the old record (8) for strikeouts by a starting pitcher in the WBC by two, needing only 65 pitches to accomplish the feat. The funny thing is Jimenez left the game in a scoreless tie due to pitch count rules, and his Dominican Republic teammates were shocked by the Netherlands, who upset them for a second time, knocking the Dominicans out of the WBC.

Now I know Nederland doesn't exactly have lineup to drool over (only 1 current MLB player) but they still have a quality baseball team. Knocking off the highly favored Dominican Republic team (10 MLB players, 8 of which have been All Stars) is damn impressive. Ubaldo straight up embarassed them and I hope this is a nice indication of what the Rockies can expect from him this season. It's hard to get excited about anything is Rockies country these days but Ubaldo is a splash of hope from a franchise that is too cheap to keep a winning team. Ubaldo had a killer second half of the season last year and surpassed Aaron Cook as the number 1. I think Jimenez has finally arrived as an elite pitcher and he is no longer just a "prospect" or a "talent." I see his numbers this year looking like 12-6 with a 3.2 ERA. These numbers could (and should) yield a All Star roster ballet but due to the fact that he won't have the wins to back up his numbers (weak hitting, shaky bullpen) he will most likely be watching the Mid Summer Classic from his living room. None the less, Rockies fans are in for a real treat for the next few years. At least until 2013 when the club options are $5.75 million and $8 million in 2014. So, basically we have no chance of seeing him in a Rockies uniform past the 2008 trade deadline.