Ready for the Show
My favorite baseball movie is Bull Durham, the 1988 fictional film of a minor league team, the Durham Bulls, and its players and fans. Indeed, Sports Illustrated has ranked it as the #1 sports movie of all time. One of the main story lines is the relationship between a longtime minor league catcher, Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner) and a rookie phenom pitcher, Ebby Calvin LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins), who is not so affectionately nicknamed by Davis as “Meat”. Meat has major league talent with a terrific fastball, but needs much refinement. Davis talks very fondly of his one shot at the big leagues (‘the 21 greatest days of my life”), and it’s his job to get LaLoosh “Ready for the Show”. After a tough start to the season, the rookie finds his groove mid-season and gets the MLB call-up.
I enjoyed following MLB fireballer pitchers as a little boy in the 1960s. I grew up being a huge fan of Jim Maloney of the Reds, who had a dynamite fastball (recording over 200 strikeouts during several seasons) and threw two no-hitters. Maloney would match up often with the #1s of other teams, such as Marichal (Giants), Jenkins (Cubs), Koufax (Dodgers), and Gibson (Cardinals). Last week during a lazy summer afternoon I settled into the sofa and watched a pitcher’s duel between two of today’s young fireballers, the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski. Both pitchers consistently were clocked at over 100 mph in the game. While Misiorowski and Milwaukee won this first matchup between the phenoms, 4-0, my guess is that there will be many more duels to come.
Misiorowski attended little known Crowder College for two years before committing to LSU. When Milwaukee drafted him in the second round in 2022, he decided to go pro instead of teaming up with Skenes at LSU. Jacob has been reaching 100 mph with his fastball for a few years in the minors. This season he put his entire repertoire together in Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds, posting a 2.13 ERA. Just over 3 weeks ago, he began his Brewers career in a big way with an MLB record 11-inning hitless streak. Currently, Misiorowski is 3-1 with a 3.20 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 19 innings. He looks to be clearly Ready for the Show.
Skenes made a big splash onto the national scene in his junior year in college. LSU won the national championship in 2023 with Skenes as the national collegiate pitcher of the year and most outstanding player in the College World Series. Paul was selected first overall by the Pirates and made his way through the Pittsburgh farm system in just one season. Skenes arrived to the Show in May last year and was certainly ready. He was named the starting pitcher for the NL squad at the All-Star Game, only the fifth rookie in MLB history to make the start. In his rookie season last year, Paul had a record of 11-3, 1.96 ERA, and recorded 170 strikeouts and just 32 walks. His overpowering style has continued this year but with little Pittsburgh run support. Incredibly, he has a 1.44 ERA over his last ten starts but only one win to show for it.
The NL Central has two other young, phenom pitchers, the Cubs’ Cade Horton and the Reds’ Chase Burns. In 2022, Chicago selected Horton seventh overall in the MLB draft. Like Skenes, Cade starred in college at a big time program, Oklahoma. Touted as the top pitching prospect in the Cubs system, he started this season at Triple-A Iowa. He didn’t disappoint. With the Iowa Cubs he had a 1.24 ERA in six starts, and soon found himself in the major league rotation. Since Horton was promoted in May, he has a record of 3-2 with 38 strikeouts in 52 innings, including seven shutout innings in his last start. The Cubs are hoping that his dominance on the mound carries well into October.
Burns also blasted onto the national pitching landscape as a dominant pitcher at Tennessee and Wake Forest. Cincinnati made him the second overall pick in 2024. He literally skyrocketed through the Reds system in 2025 – three starts in Single A Dayton; eight appearances at AA Chattanooga; and two starts for AAA Louisville. Less than two weeks ago, Burns made his first major league start in Cincinnati against a tough opponent, the New York Yankees. He became the first pitcher since 1961 to strike out 5 consecutive batters to open his career, including his “favorite one” in the first inning against Aaron Judge. While Burns suffered a setback in his second start, he rebounded yesterday in Philadelphia with a strong outing.
Misiorowski, Skenes, Horton, and Burns. I truly hope there is not a “Wayne Simpson story” for any of them. You see, Simpson made the Reds’ starting rotation as a rookie in 1970. Also a fireballer, he started the season 13-1 and was the only rookie in the 1970 MLB All-Star Game. Based on his pitching motion, many deemed him the next Bob Gibson. In the latter half of the 1970 season, he injured his rotator cuff and truly never recovered. His career win-loss record was 36-31 with a 4.37 ERA. I hope today’s pitching phenoms are not only Ready for the Show, but also able to sustain outstanding careers in major league baseball.
Until next Monday,
your Baseball Bench Coach