Too bad he plays for the Miami Marlins or else we'd be talking 300 wins at the end of his career. Young pitching sensation, Jose Fernandez is making a lot of noise in his first season in the major leagues. At a tender age of 21, Fernandez is making big league hitters look foolish, providing quality pitching for a young Marlins' team. Forget Matt Harvey, should we be paying attention to the kid from South Beach?
Okay, let's not get too excited, Harvey is a true ace. However, Fernandez has great numbers so far in his first full season in the majors. He is 7-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 20 starts. His ERA ranks him 12th in baseball. His K/9 Ratio is 9.3 after striking out 124 batters in 119.2 innings pitched.
In his first 20 career MLB starts, Fernandez has only been tagged for three or more earned runs in a game five times. Yet, his record doesn't resemble how great his pitching has been, receiving eight no-decisions. In these eight no-decisions, Fernandez has yielded a total of eight runs. The kid could easily be 15-5 instead. The Marlins have him on a short leash, but in two starts, he's gone on to pitch at least five innings 17 times, only surpassing a triple-digit pitch count four times this season.
Even more impressive is Fernandez's stuff and control. The numbers also show that Fernandez can locate and throw the ball exactly where he wants. He is striking out almost six hitters per walk, totaling 42 base on balls in 2013. His fastball is close to 100 MPH, but he likes to mix in a devastating slider later in the game. Just look at this 13-strikeout performance.
It's disgusting, but in a good way.
Just imagine if Fernandez pitched for team playing .500 baseball or better? He is already an All-Star and would probably garner some Rookie of the Year conversations and possibly Cy Young talks. However, as far as Cy Young talk goes, Harvey and the St. Louis Cardinals' Adam Wainwright are the N.L. leaders in those talks as of right now.
