What About Leake?

The ESPN Machine hyped up Washington National's rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg to epic proportions, and in defense of Strasburg he did not disappoint in his debut. But I say what about Mike Leake? Where has the love been? A few of the baseball insiders have mentioned Leake on their spots on TV and Radio, but for the most part he has only been a local story. But consider this about Leake....

- Mike Leake is the first player since 2000 to go directly from the draft to the Major Leagues. (Xavier Nady did it in San Diego)

- The last time a starting pitcher came from the draft to the bigs? 1989 Jim Abbott of the California Angels.

- The last time a Reds player came from the draft to the big leagues? 1957!

So why isn't the 5-0 Mike Leake a bigger story? He doesn't have the blistering speed that Strasburg has but his college statistics were just as good. Coming out of Arizona State he was the PAC-10 Pitcher of the Year the first time back to back winner of the award.

So far on the season Leake has appeared in 11 games for the Reds. He is 5-0 with a 2.22 ERAm and a 1.23 WHIP. Leake has 50 k's and 25 BB. And Leake is not just doing it against poor competition. His wins this season have come against St. Louis, Washington, Chicago, New York, Houston, and Los Angeles. Add to that an outing against Atlanta where the Reds blew 6 run lead in the ninth inning and took the win from Leake.