Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
When rookie starting pitcher Andrew Albers got the news that he was making his Major League Baseball debut against the hot Kansas City Royals and against James Shields, he might not have felt all that confident that he would get the win. Not only did he get the win though, he went out and completely dominated the red hot bats that have been the Royals and got the win against Shields. That might seem enough to be ridiculous but that doesn’t even begin to describe how great Albers was.
It isn’t all that often that a MLB debut goes to a complete game shutout. Albers didn’t get totally there but he did go 8-1/3 innings of shutout baseball while giving up only 4 hits. In case this is your first time reading about a pitcher in baseball; that would have been a great start for anyone. The veteran Shields would have certainly taken that outing at any point and yet this rookie put it out there in his debut? It certainly has quite a wow factor but Albers isn’t just for show. He is the real deal and this will not be his last great outing.
Looking at his minor league numbers you can clearly see that he is one of the future great arms of baseball. He had a 2.64 ERA over the course of his minor league career and a WHIP of 1.15. The numerous ground balls that he got off of the Royals’ bats are not a coincidence either. He only averaged half of a home run every nine innings throughout the minors as well. This guy looked poised for a reason. He is that good; he will be at least that good if not better in the years to come. Look for Albers in a Twins rotation near you. He’ll be there for quite a while.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
