C.C. Sabathia, of the Cleveland Indians, got the job done on Friday against the Kansas City Royals. Sabathia didn't have his most dominant performance of the year, but he pitched well enough to improve to 19-7 on the year. Sabathia threw seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out four. Sabathia put together the best season of his young career and made a great case for the 2007 American League CY Young Award, now it is up to the voters. This is the kind of potential that many have been predicting from the big lefthander and he has now raised the bar for expectations in future seasons. The final tally for Sabathia is 241 innings pitched, a 3.21 earned run average, 1.14 WHIP, 209 strikeouts, and a .259 batting average against.
It is fare too say that a lot of Mike Lowell's critics in South Florida believed he was washed up after the 2005 season. The Red Sox didn't agree and they are reaping the reward in 2007. Mike Lowell went two for four with two runs batted in on Friday night to bring his batting average to .325 along with 20 homeruns and 118 runs batted in.
It is safe to say that Justin Morneu, of the Minnesota Twins, will not be a finalist for the American League Most Valuable Player this season, but by collecting 30+ homeruns and 100+ runs batted in for the second consecutive season he proves that it wasn't a fluke (not to suggest that it was) and that will be at least his level of expected production as he moves on into the prime of his career. Morneu belted his 31st homerun of the year on Friday night against the Boston Red Sox and he is now batting .274 with 111 runs batted in and an OPS of .844.
If there is one guy on the Chicago White Sox roster that you can not accuse of taking it easy at any time this season it is Bobby Jenks. Jenks earned his 40th save of the season on Friday night and lowered his earned run average to 2.77. Jenks has also posted a WHIP of 0.89 and 7.75 K/9. What makes this somewhat astonishing is the fact that he has recorded those numbers for a team with a 71-89 record.
The 2007 Major League Baseball season was quite a ride and it is important that we take a moment to reflect on another fantastic season at Fantistics and Insider Baseball. I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the subscribers, daily readers, analysts, and owners who make this all possible. I assure you that having your team in the race for most of the season adds something a little extra to what is already a great business, and for those of you that didn't have teams in the race in 2007, keep in mind that the Chicago Cubs went from the worst team in the National League in 2006 to the 2007 National League Central Division Champions. Once again, I would like to thank all of the readers that have followed my work and I hope that the analysis that I provided was helpful and played a role in leading your fantasy teams to success in 2007.
