Cory Luebke Budding Ace Or Mirage

Cory Luebke, the Padres 27 year old pitcher made news this spring signing a four year deal with the club. Luebke who didn't really show all that much promise in the minor leagues has impressed heavily in over 100 innings pitched as a starter in the big leagues. While it is a very small sample size (IP-116), Luebke's skill related numbers have been great. How great? Let's take a look at the closest comparables to Luebke using the pitching skilled related stats of K/9, BB/9 and GB/FB over the past two seasons. Like I mentioned above, keep in mind the small sample size and the high probability for some regression from Luebke. The comparables are interesting though.

	Cory Luebke	9.75	2.55	0.96
Rank	Pitcher	K/9	BB/9	GB/FB
1	Clayton Kershaw	9.46	2.78	1.04
2	Yovani Gallardo	9.34	3.07	1.29
3	Michael Pineda	9.11	2.89	0.81
4	Justin Verlander	8.88	2.42	0.98
5	Mat Latos	8.88	2.66	1.07
6	Josh Johnson	8.93	2.51	1.39
7	Brandon Beachy	10.57	3.04	0.77
8	Tim Lincecum	9.45	3.4	1.5
9	Zack Greinke	8.78	2.3	1.37
10	Mike Minor	8.7	2.95	0.92
11	Cole Hamels	8.62	2.24	1.37
12	Tommy Hanson	8.52	2.76	0.99
13	Erik Bedard	8.7	3.34	1.11
14	Jon Lester	9.17	3.56	1.65
15	David Price	8.44	2.96	1.16
16	Jered Weaver	8.43	2.15	0.71
17	Brandon Morrow	10.53	3.73	0.91
18	Felix Hernandez	8.45	2.55	1.72
19	Max Scherzer	8.25	2.9	1.02
20	James Shields	8.21	2.29	1.18