Just taking a glance at Cliff Lee on television from time to time, you likely wouldn’t find yourself to be overly impressed.
He will never throw harder than 93 with his fastball. He doesn’t do anything funky with his motion. He is very deliberate and has a plan of attack for the hitters.
In some ways, he could be classified as boring.
But digging deeper into Lee’s tools, there is a pitcher who is putting together what is arguably the best postseason résumé that any of us have seen in our lifetime.
For the third time in three starts this postseason Cliff Lee struck out at least 10 hitters in a game. He has five games like that in a total of eight playoff starts, which ties a Major League record with Bob Gibson and Randy Johnson.
It’s all in the control. After flaming out in 2007 as a member of the Cleveland Indians, Lee was sent down to the minors in August of that year to work on some things. While he was down there, he began working on the pitch that would become his most devastating weapon—a cutter.
Mariano Rivera has made the cutter famous. Cliff Lee is working on dramatically enhancing the legacy of that pitch.
When Lee made the Indians roster out of spring training in 2008, it was apparent from the start that something was very different. He had another pitch that was working, and he had better control than he had ever had.
Lee came back from the demotion in 2007 to win 22 games and a Cy Young in 2008. Then in 2009 he became a household name with his outstanding performances in the postseason as a member of the Phillies, who acquired Lee in a midseason trade with the Indians. He dominated the Yankees in two games with the Phillies in that World Series and was the winning pitcher in the only two games they won in that series.
In December 2009, Lee was traded to Seattle to form the most devastating one-two pitching combination in baseball with Felix Hernandez. But things didn’t work out for the Mariners or Lee, who opened the season on the disabled list, and by the time he got back Seattle was done.
Though Lee was brilliant in his time with Seattle (five complete games in 13 starts, a K:BB ratio of 89:6), the team’s offense was so bad that they finished last in the American League in runs scored by 100 runs. In July, he was traded to the Rangers, a team with a lot of promising young talent but not a dominant force at the front of the rotation.
Lee’s time with the Rangers wasn’t as good as his time with the Mariners with an ERA near 4.00 and a stiff back that sidelined him for a couple weeks, leaving people wondering if he would be as effective in the postseason. The answer, as we have found, is a resounding YES! Lee has been absolutely dominant in the way that guys like Sandy Koufax or Pedro Martinez were in their prime.
Cliff Lee brought something to this Texas team that they have never had: a true No. 1 starter.
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