Simply the best

Ever since their team's heralded draft class of 2006, Yankee fans have been looking forward to the imminent arrival of a bunch of talented young bullpen arms. Besides Joba Chamberlain, there's 9th-round pick Mark Melancon, whose hammer curve has earned him comparisons to Francisco Rodriguez, and the recently-promoted David Robertson, who didn't allow a home run in 136 career minor league innings.

Having seen my team trot the likes of Steve Karsay, Felix Heredia, Tanyon Sturtze, and even Armando Benitez out of the bullpen over the past five seasons, it's certainly exciting to see what could become of the Yankees' bullpen. But before all of us get too wrapped up in the future, let's take a step back and appreciate what we get to witness there now. No, I don't mean Kyle Farnsworth and the 10 home runs he has allowed in 36 innings this season. Or LaTroy Hawkins and his absolutely dazzling ERA of 6.03.

Instead, I'm referring to Mariano Rivera, who is very quietly having one of the best seasons of his first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Mo notched his 22nd save in 22 opportunities Saturday against the Mets, hurling a 1-2-3 9th inning in which he threw just two pitches out of the strike zone -- though that's hardly surprising for someone who has allowed an average of one walk per month this season.

Try to digest these numbers: through June 30, Rivera is sporting a 0.74 ERA, a 0.55 WHIP, a K/BB ratio of 14.0, and a .138 batting average against. By comparison, during Eric Gagne's Cy Young-winning season in 2003, the then-Dodger closer's K/BB ratio was less than half of Rivera's and his ERA was nearly half a run higher.

Mo has actually been on this tear since the beginning of the 2007 season. After a rocky beginning, in which he blew his first two save opportunities and carried a 10.57 ERA into May, Rivera looked, well, like Rivera, recording his 10th season of 30 or more saves in the last 11 years. In his last 95 appearances, a run that dates back to April 23, 2007, the Sandman has blown just 2 saves, walked just 13 batters, and served just 5 home runs.

Yet somehow, despite how brilliant he's been for a full calendar year and despite the fact that he plays in a media market whose athletes are nauseatingly overexposed, Rivera has flown under the radar over the past few seasons. This year, Mo's dominance has been overshadowed by Rodriguez, who is leading baseball with 32 saves and may be on his way to breaking the single season saves record.

Sure, the saves discrepancy (32 vs. 22) is drastic, and K-Rod deserves credit for coming through almost every time for a team that plays a lot of low-scoring games. But otherwise, there is no contest as to who is having the better season. In virtually the same innings pitched, Rivera has struck out 10 more batters, issued 18 fewer walks, surrendered 5 fewer runs, allowed 4 fewer hits, and yielded an astounding 22 fewer baserunners. Still, perhaps because we have all been lulled to sleep by 13 years of startling consistency, Rivera's season has gotten a rather ho-hum reception from baseball writers, who are putting first-half wonders Cliff Lee and Justin Duchscherer ahead of Mo as early-season Cy Young favorites.

None of this is to say that Rivera will -- or even should -- win his first Cy Young award; if Gagne's 2003 season is the standard for relievers, then Rivera hasn't been overpowering enough to earn Cy consideration. Gagne, thanks presumably to the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs, struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings (or nearly 15 batters per nine innings), while Rivera has never had more than 83 punchouts in a season since 1997. Through 34 appearances in 2008, Mo has 42 strikeouts, a total Gagne needed just 23 appearances to reach back in '03.

But what it does tell you is that, with apologies to K-Rod, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, and Billy Wagner, Rivera is still the best at what he does. At 38 years of age, Rivera is more dependable than any reliever in the game, and for my money, it doesn't get any more exciting than seeing the best at his best.

No doubt I'm looking forward to the day where Joba Chamberlain goes 6 shutout innings, hands the ball off to Robertson and J.B. Cox for the seventh and eighth, and Melancon shuts the door in the ninth. But for now, while we have the great fortune of watching a legend at the top of his game, the future can certainly wait.