Look Out For Kyle Drabek

Exactly two months ago, I predicted that Kyle Drabek would be named the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year.

(If the name is familiar it's because his father Doug was a pretty darn good pitcher. The elder Drabek pitched for 13 seasons in the bigs and won the NL Cy Young Award in 1990 with the Pittsburgh Pirates going 22-6 with a 2.74 ERA).

Well, that appears about as likely to come to fruition as the Seattle Mariners winning the World Series.

But on this one I don't mind being wrong.

I spent Memorial Day up in Manchester to see the New Hampshire Fishercats (Double A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) host the Trenton Thunder (Double A affiliate of the New York Yankees). The last time I went to see a Fishercats game I ended up smack dab in the middle of a Barack Obama rally.

Drabek was pitching for the Fishercats and he was in complete control.

Drabek pitched eight innings of shutout baseball giving up only four hits and one walk en route to a 3-0 victory. While he only struck out four batters he worked fast. In fact, the game was finished in two hours. In thirty years of watching baseball, that's the quickest game I've ever seen whether in person, watching on TV or listening on the radio.

He also caught a wicked line drive and turned it into a double play.

The Blue Jays obtained Drabek in the off season from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Roy Halladay deal. I'm sure the Phillies hated giving up Drabek but I think a perfect game would tend to soften that blow.

I would very surprised if Drabek isn't starting games for the Jays before the end of this season. But if not I think he'll be big factor next season. In which case, he could become the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year.