David Price

In a year of stunning rookie performances, Cuban defector and Reds uber-prospect Aroldis Chapman made his major-league debut on Tuesday, facing three batters in one inning of work. The 22-year-old was electric, hitting 103 mph on the radar gun.

The 2010 MLB season has really been great. With 17 out of 30 teams at or above .500, I have to admit that a form of parity does exist as I am seeing that form on the field.

And the surprises have been what have made this a great season.

The San Diego Padres, with a payroll ripped apart by the divorce of their owners, have been at the top of the National League all season. The Padres were even buyers at the trade deadline as they brought in the bat of Ryan Ludwick to help their lone superstar hitter in Adrian Gonzalez.

There are fewer than 50 games remaining in the 2010 season.

The New York Yankees looks poised for a return to the World Series.

If the Division Playoffs were to begin today Minnesota would go to New York and Texas would host Tampa Bay.

So who has the best chance of defeating the Yankees and representing the American League in the World Series?

Comparing starting pitching, playoff experience, team defense and a couple other statistics I ranked the Twins, Rangers and Rays (sorry Boston and Chicago fans) based on their ability to defeat the Yankees.

Via Wikipedia:

The Black Aces is a book written by former Major League pitcher James “Mudcat” Grant about the only African American pitchers who have won at least 20 Major League Baseball games in a single season.

There are currently two pitching phenoms in Major League Baseball.

One, though, is getting an absolutely massive amount of media attention in Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

The other is David Price, the Tampa Bay Rays starter who recently started the All-Star game in Anaheim this past Tuesday.

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Did you see Price finish the sweep against Boston? Seriously? Even with all of Boston's injuries, they are still no offensive slouch.

David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Adrian Beltre were no match for Price. The trio was a combined 2-for-13 with five strikeouts.

The crazy thing is, Price beat them with just one pitch: his fastball. Of his 111 pitches, 99 of them were fastballs.

But one start does not an All-Star starter make. However, this does:

Twelve wins—most in the AL.

2.42 ERA—second to Cliff Lee by .08.

Tampa Bay Rays’ LHP David Price came into Wednesday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher who threw his fastball 70.8 percent of the time. I guess when you average 93 mph on your fastball, you can get away with throwing that pitch a lot.

However on Wednesday night, Price took that 70 percent and threw it out the window. He wasn’t satisfied with throwing it 70 percent of the time. On Wednesday night he wanted to throw his fastball all the time—well, almost.

It really is crazy.

In a division that features a 20 game winner (CC Sabathia), a Cy Young winner (Josh Beckett), and the 2008 ALCS MVP (Matt Garza), it's the kids who have been making the most noise.

Where would the New York Yankees be this year without Phil Hughes?

Where would the Boston Red Sox be without Clay Buchholz?

Where would the Tampa Bay Rays be without David Price?

These three pitchers have stepped up when their teams needed them the most—and not just that.

They've also been really, really, really good.

Their success is not surprising.

In less than half the year we've had some amazing, and I mean amazing games by pitchers. Three no-hitters from Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, and Dallas Braden, with the last two being perfect. Technically we've had three perfect games if you count Armando Galarraga's, which I think we should. Have the pitchers finally taken the lead in fantasy value over batters? Lets take a look…

2010
3 no-hitters (Jimenez, Halladay, Braden)
5 complete game one-hitters (Matt Cain, Johnny Cueto, Jon Niese, Mat Latos, Armando Galarraga)

On July 13, MLB's best players will take a break from their normal schedules to square off at Angel Stadium in the 81st Midsummer Classic.

Fans have been voting for their favorite position players for quite some time: Albert Pujols is the obvious pick for NL first baseman, and Joe Mauer is the overwhelming favorite for AL catcher.

Baseball worshipers hope to see their teams' leaders hit the long ball every time they enter the batter's box.

But who will pitch to these super sluggers?

That part of the whole shebang is up to All-Star managers Charlie Manuel and Joe Girardi.