Harden Ready To Be Ace

Baseball people have been predicting Cy Young Awards and no-hitters for Oakland's starting pitcher Rich Harden since 2003, when he broke into the big leagues by going 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his first four starts.

At age 21, he became the youngest A's pitcher to start a game in more than 10 years, quite an accomplishment given that the team already had a trio of aces on board in the "Big Three" of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

Three-plus years later, though, Harden isn't any closer to superstardom. And only once, in 2004, has he come close to working 200 innings, falling 11 short.

Simply keeping Harden on the mound -- and off the disabled list -- hasn't been easy. He's never gone a full year without spending time on the DL, and over the past two seasons, he's made just 28 starts. Two DL stints in 2006 limited him to nine regular-season starts and rendered him a non-factor in Oakland's run to the American League West title.

In an effort to stay healthy, Harden is taking steps to prevent the two injuries that truncated his 2006 season.

The first injury was a strained oblique (side) muscle, not his first, and while nobody can say for sure that the strains are the result of what Beane calls Harden's tendency to be "overzealous" in the weight room, Harden is cutting back on his upper-body work.

The second injury was a strained elbow ligament, and the A's know exactly what caused it. Harden was overextending his arm upon delivering his changeup, so he's working on fixing the mechanical flaw.

"The injuries aren't even in my [thoughts] at all anymore," he said. "That's all behind me."

A healthy Harden will give the Athletics a strong starting staff that includes another potential star, righty Dan Haren, as well as third-year righty Joe Blanton and veterans Esteban Loaiza and Joe Kennedy.
Source: MLB.com