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Rozak Nation
It
hit me last weekend, when Seth Yoder was talking about his and Joey's
last doubleheader against the Playerz. For those who don't know, the Horsemen
and Playerz split two fairly even games, the Playerz picking up the nitecap
win with a walkoff homerun by a man named Bill
Rozak.
Rozak.
Wasn't
even in the crop of rookies before the season started, not unlike another
free swinger who debuted mid-season last year.
The
point of Yoder's words? The Horsemen had held Rozak. They made him look
average, nothing special. But then I got confused. Rozak went 4-12 with
2 HRs in the doubleheader. Average? Nothing special? It hit me right then;
this guy is the best hitter in the league.
When
Yoder and Creighton "hold" a guy to .333 with a homerun every
6 ABs, usually they don't think they got the best of him. You could see
it though, they felt they got the best of Rozak. As if they couldn't do
much better than they did that weekend. As if Rozak walked away from the
double dip thinking these two were the best pitchers in the league.
And
what if he did? What if Yoder and Creighton were really dealing the hard
stuff, and Rozak got in his car to leave thinking "man, those guys
had my number?" What if? That's scary folks, and it's probably exactly
what happened.
Yoder
and Creighton were throwing about as well as they can.
One
game later, Rozak just exposes Darnell Uhland and Curtis Henning, two
respected pitchers. Six-for-eight, four homeruns. Eight RBIs. And that's
after starting the game 0-2. Ask Curtis, who entered the game with a 1.25
ERA. Ask Darnell, whose worst season ERA is 3.06. Ask either of them if
they could get Rozak out. If either say yes, they're lying through their
teeth.
The
lefty is leaving a trail of belittled pitchers in his wake, and all signs
point to even more beatings along the way as we reach the stretch run.
I mean, the pitching doesn't get much better than that of the Warriors
and Horsemen. Sure there's Carmichael...and Sylvester when he shows up,
but who else? Don't say Deatrick. Hard throwers are useless against this
guy if they can't keep the ball down. You think Morrison will be able
to work the count with this guy? What's Rozak going to do to Eric the
first time he sees him? If not walk, that is. Ground out? Strike out?
This
is exactly what happened last year, when Dave Cain joined Darnell with
1/3rd of a season left. Dave Cain picked up 50 ABs, and hit 15 homeruns.
Out of this world numbers. Right now, Rozak has 16 HRs in 56 ABs. Difference
though, is that Cain hit only .360. Rozak's hitting .536. Against tougher
pitching than Cain faced. Is he better?
When
the season started, we put up a shot of Carmichael standing face-to-face
with Cain. Who was more powerful? We asked you rhetorically, thinking
we'd find out soon. After 2/3rds of a season, we're still not sure. Both
have 23 HRs. One's got 122 ABs. The other has 129. One's hitting .385,
the other's hitting .380. Who is more powerful?
Rozak
is.
Not
only is he more powerful, he's a better all around hitter, which I never
thought I'd say about someone other than Cain or Carmichael. He can spray
the field like Creighton, make it look as easy as Carmichael, and take
them as deep as Cain. Call him "3-tool."
Unlike
Cain or Carmichael, who both sometimes swing at balls they cannot hit,
Rozak forces pitchers to be perfect. Rarely does he swing at anything
out of the strike zone, and when he commits, he rarely misses. Wanna tie
him up? Can't do it. If you decide to go in on him, pray he ropes it foul.
Wanna test his oppo? Go for it, but be prepared to become a fielder as
you chase a ball to left field.
I
spoke with Joey Creighton recently, who gave up the walk-off homerun from
last weekend. How does he pitch Rozak?
"Carefully."
Besides
carefully. That's too ovious.
"I
think the only way to pitch him is to either throw three straight strikes
off the base of the zone...or walk him.
"Maybe
if you're lucky he'll be merciful and take your first strike, giving you
the chance to get one cock-shot out of your system. But after that one,
you'd better be dealin'. Or you could just give up and walk him. That's
all I've come up with so far."
This
from a man who's walked only two batters in 31+ innings. A man who seems
to have no patience for walks is recommending people to walk this man.
Of course, Joey refused to walk him. Maybe if he swallowed some pride,
the Horsemen could have taken both ends of the double.
As
far as I know, only two men can consistently keep the ball down: Cain
and Carmichael. Cain's numbers aren't as good because his pitches become
exponentially more hittable when he accidentally leaves the ball up. When
Scott leaves one up, hitters are usually too busy wetting themselves to
do anything. One thinks Rozak won't be.
Never
before has the league had someone who actually makes people wonder if
he'd be able to hit Carmichael. In 2000, Creighton hit Carmichael pretty
hard, but in any other year he can't touch him. Some people thought Cain
could do it, but so far, Carmichael's been overpowering.
Rozak
can, and unless Carmichael is showing us the real stuff, Rozak will. No
pitcher is perfect, and in Rozak's world, that means every pitcher should
be prepared to watch one leave the yard. He'll prove it to you the nitecap
of August 9th.
Until
then, start wondering if a man who didn't start playing until June 22nd
is going to finish the season with the lead in homeruns. Really, think
about it.
And
don't bat an eyelash when it happens.
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