Cliff Lee has started the season as the best pitcher in baseball (AP Images).
By Harold McIlvain II
Former Arkansas Razorback pitcher Cliff Lee couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.
After seven starts, Lee, a Benton, Ark., native, has arguably been the best pitcher in all of baseball this year for the Cleveland Indians, and the Indians have needed his performances with staff ace C.C. Sabathia (1-5) starting the season with a 7.51 ERA.
Lee has received national attention because of his start to the season, but some in the media have questioned whether he can keep it together for a whole season at this pace.
The answer is simply no. But don’t tell him that. Wednesday night Lee picked up his sixth win in seven shutout innings of work, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out seven against the Yankees in a nationally televised ESPN game.
He has had good seasons in the past, and he isn’t a flash in the pan for sure. In 2005, he won 18 games, pitching over 200 innings and ending the season with a 3.79 ERA and a 2.75 K/BB ratio. But at the same time, finishing a season with a sub .86 ERA and .53 WHIP (his current season total) is highly unlikely. Lee even understands that, and he is just looking to give the team a chance to win.
“I’m happy with how things have gone,” Lee said to the Associated Press in a May 6 article. “My job is to give the team a chance to win, and I feel like I’ve done that every time I went out there. We’ve won — that’s the goal. It’s still really early. I’m pleased with the way it has gone so far, and, hopefully, I can continue to pitch the way I have.”
Everything is going great for Lee, but things haven’t always been this way. In 2007, Lee pulled an abdominal muscle during spring training and as a result landed on the disabled list before the season even started. Lee returned to pitch a three-hitter, but he then later would have his career put in jeopardy with a terrible stretch of starts that landed him pitching in triple-A ball.
“It was kind of a shock when it all happened,” he told the Associated Press regarding his demoation. “But I didn’t have anyone to blame but myself. I flat out didn’t get it done, so I could completely understand why it went the way that it went. I wanted to go to Buffalo and get better. I grasped the whole situation. I understood what was going on. I didn’t want to be the bitter guy in Buffalo.”
He has worked hard and seems to have rekindled his 2005 magic and appears to not be looking back. He should be able to keep things together and be a very serviceable pitcher for a team that has been without an ace so far this season. It will be interesting to track this former Hog as he is pitching lights out to start the season.
Filed under: Sports | Tagged: Cliff Lee, MLB, Razorback Sports
