LA's Tossing Trichotomy

By KYLE KEOUGH
CANSECO COURIER

An up-and-comer on a powerhouse ballclub, Kip Simpson has had a season most pitchers can only dream of. He's on anyone's most improved player short list; this season, he's added an astonishing 10 wins to his season four win total, and now stands as one of only four pitchers in baseball with 20 victories.

Yet even with a 20-7 record, Simpson isn't even the best pitcher on his own team. Not only that, but when juggernaut Anaheim steamrolls into the postseason, he's not even a safe bet to pitch twice in a seven-game series.

When's the last time a 20-game winner has been relegated to middle-of-the-rotation status?

Such is the dilemma in Anaheim (though it admittedly is a very happy problem to have): the Sluggers' tossing trichotomy of Simpson, Scott White and Ivan Griffin are the most formidable rotation in baseball for a reason.

Simpson (20-7, 3.66) will likely be standing on the sidelines when the NL Cy Young award is given out. However, most GMs concede that this three-horse race could easily be staged within the confines of the Sluggers' locker room, which houses the top three wins leaders in the National League.

Simpson joins veteran Ivan Griffin (19-3, 3.07 ERA) and Cy Young favorite Scott White (20-4, 2.49 ERA) as one-third of baseball's 59-win trio. If Griffin can notch just one more victory, that'll give the 114-44 Sluggers three 20-game winners, all in a single season.

The thought of facing the Sluggers isn't appealing for NL foes, especially considering that besides facing a 20-game winner in virtually every game of a long series, they'll be met with all-world closer Rob Parker, who's 50-for-50 and counting in save opportunities this season. If any RP could garner enough votes for a potential Cy Young theft, it's Parker and his perfect season.

In his second season, owner davidbutler9 has taken a perennial loser, forced it onto the postseason's doorstep in season four, and now has molded it into the proverbial elephant in the room; the Sluggers have become the team no one is eager to face.

Despite this being their first postseason birth, the Sluggers are poised as the odds-on World Series favorites.

And with their 59-win pitching trio, a mere 12 wins is all that separates them from a World Series title.