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Unless you’re a professional baseball scout, it’s damn near impossible to look at the newest crop of Arizona Summer League talent and pick out who’s destined for the big leagues. This summer, it may be different. Competing among all the skinny 19-and 20-year-olds that have a next-to-zilch chance of making it to the majors will be a 26-year-old pitcher with some honest-to-goodness major-league bona fides.
If you head out to the Cleveland Indians’ complex at Goodyear Ballpark, 1933 South Ballpark Way, on Sunday June 21, you’ll likely see former ace Fausto Carmona, banished by the Tribe to their spring training complex in Goodyear a couple of weeks ago to work out whatever plagued him (2 wins, 6 losses, 7.42 ERA, and — gasp — 41 walks yet only 36 strikeouts in 60 innings) in the first six weeks of this season.
Just two years removed from going 19-8 with a 3.02 ERA — and some Cy Young Award consideration, as the Indians just missed getting to the World Series — Carmona is just another hopeful with dreams of making it to “The Show.” And one day, you’ll be able to say you saw him when he was a wanna-be — again.
Sun., June 21, 2009
