Sports: Delmon Young Will Be Baseball's Next Great Young Player

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have never been associated with excellence. Since their inaugural season in 1998, the Rays have finished last each year other than 2004 when they finished 4th in the 5 team A.L. East with the best record in team history at 71-91. However, the Rays are showing some signs of being competitive thanks to talented young hitters such as Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, and B.J. Upton; Japanese import Akinori Iwamura; and young star pitcher Scott Kazmir. However, the best player of this group is going to be Delmon Young--the 1st overall draft pick in 2003 and younger brother of longtime longtime Tiger and now Washington National Dimitri Young. Delmon Young hit .317 late last year when he was called up from the minors to get a bit of experience, and his performance has only gotten stronger this year as he is hitting .342 with 3 HR and 10 RBI through 12 games. Young has an incredible balanced swing that is most comparable to 2-time MVP and future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas. He generates great power to all fields, has incredible balance, and his bat stays level and in the strike zone longer than most players one sees. The only question with Young is his attitude--he was suspended for over a month in the minor leagues last year for throwing a bat at an umpire. However, he's been quiet so far this year, and has been making only positive news. Check out this game tying homer (check the video on 4.6.2007), where he waits on a 95 mph fastball from B.J. Ryan, takes a smooth controlled swing, and lines it out to right field to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th (the Rays would go on to win). The Rays terrible relief pitching and mediocre starting pitching will prevent a winning season this year, but with Delmon Young leading the way don't be surprised if they win a few more games this year. And if they can get some pitching in the future--watch out.