Blue Jays +121 at LA Angels
Game Time: 08/25/2007 09:05 PM -
By: Al McMordie | bigal.com
Toronto's Shaun Marcum is rounding into the form that made him a highly valued prospect in the minors. Back the Blue Jays tonight on the road in Anaheim against the Angels.
Our Saturday night MLB selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Los Angeles Angels out west in Anaheim.
Shaun Marcum's success this season for Toronto should come as no surprise. Despite struggling in 2006 in his first big-league stint as a starter, the 25-year-old right-hander was a strikeout machine in the minors from 2003 through last year. It was only a matter of time before Marcum would start to blossom as a major leaguer. And that time has apparently come as Marcum looks like he will now be a fixture alongside Roy Halladay and AJ Burnette (assuming the latter can stay healthy) in the Toronto rotation for years to come.
Marcum is 10-5 with an ERA of 3.65, WHIP of 1.12 and only 35 walks in over 130 innings. Don't look for him to return to the minors anytime soon.
Similarly and at only 24-years-old, lefty Joe Saunders has also blossomed for the Angels this season. Saunders has shown great control, with only 19 walks in over 69 innings pitched so far. But Saunders does not overpower batters the way Marcum does, tallying only 39 strikeouts. And Saunders is merely a fill-in at this point, taking the place of oft-injured Bartolo Colon in the rotation. That is not to say that Saunders doesn't deserve to stay since Colon can't seem to stay healthy and Saunders has certainly earned the right.
The Angels continue to play without their main sparkplug, 3B/OF Chone Figgins, who is nursing a sore wrist, and Los Angeles is doing everything they can not to put him on the DL. But he will probably miss this game tonight as well. Take Toronto.
Free Pick: Blue Jays +121
Game Time: 08/25/2007 09:05 PM -
By: Al McMordie | bigal.com
Toronto's Shaun Marcum is rounding into the form that made him a highly valued prospect in the minors. Back the Blue Jays tonight on the road in Anaheim against the Angels.
Our Saturday night MLB selection is on the Toronto Blue Jays over the Los Angeles Angels out west in Anaheim.
Shaun Marcum's success this season for Toronto should come as no surprise. Despite struggling in 2006 in his first big-league stint as a starter, the 25-year-old right-hander was a strikeout machine in the minors from 2003 through last year. It was only a matter of time before Marcum would start to blossom as a major leaguer. And that time has apparently come as Marcum looks like he will now be a fixture alongside Roy Halladay and AJ Burnette (assuming the latter can stay healthy) in the Toronto rotation for years to come.
Marcum is 10-5 with an ERA of 3.65, WHIP of 1.12 and only 35 walks in over 130 innings. Don't look for him to return to the minors anytime soon.
Similarly and at only 24-years-old, lefty Joe Saunders has also blossomed for the Angels this season. Saunders has shown great control, with only 19 walks in over 69 innings pitched so far. But Saunders does not overpower batters the way Marcum does, tallying only 39 strikeouts. And Saunders is merely a fill-in at this point, taking the place of oft-injured Bartolo Colon in the rotation. That is not to say that Saunders doesn't deserve to stay since Colon can't seem to stay healthy and Saunders has certainly earned the right.
The Angels continue to play without their main sparkplug, 3B/OF Chone Figgins, who is nursing a sore wrist, and Los Angeles is doing everything they can not to put him on the DL. But he will probably miss this game tonight as well. Take Toronto.
Free Pick: Blue Jays +121