Carlos Silva Is An All-Star

The Time has come Cubs fans where I think we should all apologize to Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Silva for basically ridiculing him ever since he got to Chicago after being traded for Milton Bradley. The Chicago Cubs at the time of the trade were considered to be the winners of the trade, and now with how well Silva has performed for the Cubs, they without question robbed Seattle blind.

No one can really say why Silva never lived up to the large contract he signed with the Seattle Mariners after the 2007 season. It largely could be based on the fact that Silva basically suffered through injuries during his two year span with the Mariners, and he also just was not fit to play the game of baseball. Which lead to him being traded to the Cubs for Milton Bradley, who is playing equally as bad with the Seattle Mariners as he did with the Chicago Cubs.

Ever since Silva has put on the Cubs uniform, it is like he transformed into a completely different pitcher. A big reason could be because of the work that Silva did with pitching coach Larry Rothschild. As while working with him, Silva tweaked his delivery which gave him more effectiveness on his sinker and more velocity to his pitches.

Now lets take a look past Silva’s 8-0 record and 2.93 ERA. This year Silva is averaging 6.25 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.60 walks per nine innings. His velocity is up on his fastball as at times this year it has reached 93, which is the most it has been since 2007. As I mentioned above, he is also using his sinker at much better rate then he was over his past few seasons.

The Cubs are not going to have a lot of all stars this year if any, but I definitely think that Carlos Silva should be in the all star game representing the Chicago Cubs. With the exception of Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, who has just been lights out this whole year, Silva has arguably been the best starter in the National League. And, he should earn the recognition he deserves and be voted in by the fans into the All Star game.