Best young 1-2 combo? Probably Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain.
Best young 1-2 starters you may not have heard of? Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad.
"If Volstad and Johnson pitched in a major media market – they're better prospects than Joba Chamberlain," one scout told FanHouse. "They're going to be around a long time."
They're on the Marlins, in case you were wondering.
"You've got young guys with great stuff, good command and exceptional mound presence," Florida catcher John Baker said. "And they're also very cool under pressure. Rarely do you see one guy that young that pitches that well under pressure, much less two."
Volstad is just 22 and, despite struggling lately, has a career 3.81 ERA. Johnson is 25 and 25-12 for his career – 13-2 with a 3.16 ERA since returning from Tommy John surgery (and entering his start Saturday night).
"They're capable of matching up with anybody in the league and winning the game," pitching coach Mark Wiley said. "They're big guys that have better than average command of their pitches. They're good athletes who maintain their delivery and they have enough weapons that they can throw to different parts of the strike zone with different pitches. Both of them can change speeds."
Johnson, in fact, is the most underrated starter in the game. Florida bench coach Carlos Tosca compares Johnson to Roy Halladay – whom Tosca managed in Toronto – in the way that he attacks hitters.
Elbow surgery in August 2007 kept Johnson out until last July 10. Since then he has a lower opponents' OPS than Johan Santana (whom he has faced twice this season, with Florida winning both games).
"He throws hard, has that good sinker, his slider's pretty devastating, and this year he's using his changeup a lot more too," Volstad said of Johnson, whose fastball can get up to 97 mph. "He can throw all three pitches for strikes whenever he wants to."
Wiley said Johnson's slider is better than a year ago and he has improved his command to the inside part of the plate.
And Johnson, whose 12 quality starts are tied for the major-league lead, sets the standard for Volstad the rest of the staff.
"He's the lead dog," manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Volstad came to the majors last July straight from Double-A. He didn't allow more than four earned runs in any of his first 26 career starts, tying Brandon Webb for the longest streak of its kind since Aaron Sele in 1993.
His fastball isn't as hard as Johnson's – usually around 91 mph – but Volstad uses his size to get great sink on his pitches.
It's not like the Marlins can hide these two, since Johnson is 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds and Volstad comes in at 6-8, 225.
"They're built like two basketball forwards," Baker said. "But they're good athletes, they swing the bat, they get bunts down, they do all the little things."
Still, Johnson and Volstad can probably walk down any street, even in south Florida, unrecognized.
"It doesn't matter at all," Johnson said. "We know that we can be pretty good. We don't get caught up in that, ever."
Overheard and Understood
• At least one person in the Phillies organization has pushed for them to acquire Red Sox right-hander Brad Penny. And while the asking price was apparently reasonable at the time, Philadelphia passed. Now as Penny pitches better, the cost to get him will go up.
• But for the most part, trade talks are still slow. Two general managers agreed that there are more buyers than sellers, with bunched divisional races, and teams looking to acquire players not offering much in return, saying that taking on payroll in this economy is enough without adding in prospects.
• One GM predicts No. 2 overall pick Dustin Ackley will sign with Seattle for closer to "slot money" – the recommended bonus from the commissioner's office – than the $9.5 million Scott Boras seeks.
| Chart of the Week | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Red Sox reached 500 consecutive sellouts at Fenway Park on Wednesday night. (It must be noted that only Tampa Bay and Oakland have a smaller listed home capacity.) Only three other North American pro franchises have sold out more consecutive home games: | ||
| G | Team | Years |
| 744 |
Portland Trailblazers (NBA) |
1977-95 |
| 567 |
Boston Celtics (NBA) |
1980-95 |
| 515 |
Chicago Bulls (NBA) |
1987-2000 |
• Those Baltimore team flights must be pretty quiet. The Orioles are 0-9 in road series finales.
• Phillies manager Charlie Manuel believes that Jimmy Rollins, who went into Saturday's game hitting just .223, has a hot streak coming. "Once Jimmy really gets his swing down, he usually keeps it for quite a while," Manuel said. "He gets it, but he hasn't kept it like he usually has." And while Rollins, despite his speed, hits the ball in the air more than the league average, Manuel doesn't mind. "I'm sure that he thinks when he gets up in the count like 2-0, 3-1 stuff like that, he's thinking if I get a good fastball to hit, I'm going to hit it hard and see where it's going to go. And his swing gets a little long and he'll get underneath the ball. That's kind of natural. That's how he thinks at times. I'm not saying that's all wrong because he does have power. " Historically, Rollins' average gets better each month as the season goes along.
• The Tigers moved toward the trade deadline with concerns about their offense, thanks to Carlos Guillen's shoulder injury and Magglio Ordoñez's power dropoff.
• Ivan Rodriguez made his big-league debut on June 20, 1991, and the catcher on the other team was Carlton Fisk, whose record for games caught Rodriguez broke last week.
• A's shortstop Orlando Cabrera went into Saturday's game with 11 errors, matching his 2007 total with the Angels. He made 16 last year wit h the White Sox.
• Tampa Bay has a chance to join the 1996 Rockies as the only teams to hit 200 homers and steal 200 bases. Meanwhile, the Giants and Pirates are on pace to be the first teams since the 1992 Red Sox to have fewer than 100 of each in a full season.
• Brad Mills became the 11th pitcher to start for the Blue Jays this year; the team record is 13, set in 1979 and tied in 2002.
• Outfielder James McOwen of the Single-A High Desert Mavericks (a Mariners affiliate in Adelanto, Calif.) extended his hitting streak to 30 games on Friday.
