Posted on Sun, May. 04, 2008

Now it's Max Scherzer's turn to be baseball's Next Big Thing.

Scherzer, a right-handed pitcher for Arizona, was promoted to the major leagues and then tossed into his first game last Tuesday. Pitching in relief, he faced 13 Houston batters and retired all 13, striking out seven. The radar guns clocked his fastball topping out at 98 mph.

The Astros didn't put the ball in fair territory until their sixth hitter faced him, and hit just one out of the infield, a fly to left.

That was enough for the Diamondbacks; they shipped Edgar Gonzalez to the bullpen and announced that Scherzer, 23, will move into the rotation, starting at home Monday against Philadelphia.

In baseball, we love the Next Big Thing.

The NBT is usually a pitcher, and almost always has a fastball that -- at least in hearsay -- approaches triple digits. That's because in baseball, starting pitcher is really the only position that can dominate a game; if he pitches well, his team likely wins.

And so we wait on the next one, the next Pedro Martinez or Bob Gibson or Johan Santana, NBTs who quickly morphed into BTs, to flash and sizzle above the baseball firmament.

For awhile last summer, it was the Yankees' Phil Hughes, but there were injuries and a poor start this year and now another trip to the disabled list, and his NBT status has been put on hold, maybe forever.

For awhile this spring, it was the Reds' Johnny Cueto, and he might yet live up to the promise. But he is just 22 (all NBTs are young, often very young) and his beginning has recently included some rocky starts.

For them, though, there is still hope. Unlike so many others, the Bill Pulsiphers and David Clydes, the Brien Taylors and Matt Andersons of the game. Some simply broke down, victims of torn muscles or pulled tendons. Others never quite figured out the three Cs -- command, control and confidence -- needed to be effective at the highest level.

Maybe the NBT to have the most immediate success was the Mets' Dwight Gooden, a 19-year-old shooting star in the summer of 1984. Gooden was 17-9 that year, with a remarkable 276 strikeouts in 218 innings pitched.

He was even better (24-4, 1.53 ERA) the following season, and many of us thought Gibson had returned. But while Gooden would finish with 194 victories, he was never that good again.

Most NBTs never live up to such promise, and how could they? Because of that, the ones who do are so much more intriguing.

NBTs are almost never quite as good as we expected when they arrive, as their talent battles with youth and inexperience. Which makes Scherzer's first try truly surprising. We had heard the rumblings out of Tucson; in four starts in Class AAA, he had allowed three earned runs in 23 innings. He had struck out 38 and walked three.

But Class AAA isn't the majors. Except that last Tuesday, it was. Scherzer was dominating, and more than anyone could have expected.

So now we wait for Monday night, hoping to see if Max Scherzer really is the Next Big Thing.