Young Wave of Stars Rejuvenates MLB

It's a rare thing when a new wave of stars enter a sport and several become highly successful. Even more rare is a group of them making a big splash right away. In Major League Baseball, fans are being treated to a show every night with some of the game's brightest young stars doing what the do best. On the West Coast Mike Trout swipes another base while across the country in Baltimore Manny Machado makes another spectacular play in the field. In Chicago, Anthony Rizzo launches another homer and in the nation's capital Bryce Harper continues to live up to the unfathomable hype. Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey strike batters out with ease and that's what we've come to expect from these young players. Greatness. Is the MLB lucky or what?

There had not been a young baseball prospect as hyped as Stephen Strasburg was when he first got called up to the Nationals. The sports world shut down as he made his first career start and every pitch was broken down by every analyst imaginable. Baseball, a game that sometimes can be seen as slow-moving and boring, was all of a sudden the talk of the summer and, to make things even sweeter, Strasburg did exactly what was expected -- he dominated.

As if that wasn't enough, Bryce Harper made his debut for the Nationals last season and, despite being 19 years old, won the Rookie of the Year and was named an All-Star. Not too bad. However, he wasn't even the best rookie that season. That honor belonged to the Angels' Mike Trout. The centerfielder made spectacular plays on defense and hit towering homers on offense. There's only one way to win the MVP award over a guy who batted .326 with 30 home runs, 83 RBI and 49 stolen bases. That would be to win the Triple Crown and Miguel Cabrera somehow managed to do just that. Were it not for him then Trout would have been named the MVP along with being named Rookie of the Year.

Strasburg, Trout and Harper have garnered much of the headlines, but Machado, Rizzo and Harvey have been marvelous as well. Machado is currently leading the league in hits with 59 and he is seventh in batting average. Rizzo is a ray of hope in a rebuilding Cubs franchise and so far this season he has belted nine home runs in 40 games. Last year he hit 15 in 87. Harvey, this week's Sports Illustrated cover boy, is 4-0 for the New York Mets with a 1.44 earned run average. The 23-year-old has also struck out 62 while walking just 14.

All these young stars have come into the league at the perfect time. Players like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay and Ichiro Suzuki don't have that many years left in the tank. The game needs a new wave to keep it going and they go just that. If the young players stay out of trouble off the field and continue to dominate on it then the game won't miss a beat once. Retirement for the stars of today is imminent, but luckily, the stars of tomorrow are already here.