Considering how he's fared in the majors as a reliever, some might consider this irony.
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Have to write about Hayden Deal. Not a heralded pitcher at all, he was an undrafted free agent(!) who signed on June 26, 2017, out of Presbyterian College in South Carolina. He broke in as a pro with a respectible 3-2, 3.23 showing for the GCL Braves and a win for Rome in his only appearance there.
He has been unhittable this season at Rome (4-1, 1.88). Today (Sunday), in just his third start of the season, he worked six innings and allowed only one hit. In his three starts, all since June 13, he has worked a total of 16 innings and allowed a grand total of one earned run.
Deal is a big left-hander, 6-4, 210, but is already 23. He is definitely a guy you need to push forward, but what a free agent buy so far!
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/playe....asp?ID=187544
He wasn't that good at Presbyterian. He did improve as a senior though
Sobotka with the save!
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20080309102629
Interesting nugget on Wilson's success: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/bryse...icle_284917450
Bryse Wilson has always thrown a two-seam fastball. It's been one of his go-to pitches since he started pitching in high school and he "lived off it" last season at Class A Rome.
So when Atlanta's analytics department relayed to Wilson that TrackMan data indicated he should ditch his two-seamer in favor of his four-seam fastball, he was leery at first. With his recent results, there's no more apprehension.
The 12th-ranked Braves prospect scattered four hits and struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings in Double-A Mississippi's 1-0 win over Birmingham on Sunday at Regions Field. In his previous start on July 3, Wilson allowed five hits while fanning a season-high nine over seven scoreless innings against Pensacola, his first outing since he was told to temporarily eschew his two-seamer from his repertoire.
"They said his four-seam fastball was off the charts and he should ditch his two-seam fastball for awhile," Mississippi pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn said. "We said, 'We'll try it and see what happens.' And that's what he's done and it's obviously helped tremendously. But he's also been more aggressive, he's pitched inside well. He's developing a changeup. He's maturing as a pitcher."
The 20-year-old right-hander earned a callup to the Southern League after allowing just one earned run over 26 2/3 innings for Class A Advanced Florida, but it hasn't been a seamless transition. Before his stellar outing against Pensacola, Wilson was 1-5 with a 6.25 ERA and a .301 average against in 10 starts with Mississippi.
"I struggled a little bit, but from those struggles I learned a lot," Wilson said. "You hit your lowest lows and there's nowhere else to go from there than up."
Lewallyn echoed that sentiment.
"I think growing pains are necessary for anyone that's going to pitch in the big leagues," the pitching coach said. "Because you have to struggle along the way to learn how to deal with failure. He had an outing about three weeks or a month ago in Biloxi where he was basically a deer in headlights. He couldn't get them out and couldn't make adjustments. He even came to me and said, 'I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do to counter what they were doing.' I said, 'You're better off doing that down here than in the big leagues.'"
Wilson was pegged by many as a future reliever because of his 60-grade fastball, according to MLB Pipeline, but his developing changeup rounded him out as a pitcher and enabled him to stick in starting rotations.
"In high school, I didn't throw a changeup at all. So coming into pro ball, I didn't have a changeup, period," Wilson said. "I've been able to develop that and it's helped a lot. As a starter, you obviously have to have three pitches."
Luke Sims' fastball averaged less than a 92 MPH as a starter in the bigs. I believe Anderson throws harder, and hopefully has more movement. Them throwing the same pitches does not make them similar. Sims' offspeed stuff is junk.
I was talking about Pivetta's stuff being similar to Anderson's. I'm searching for other comps for Anderson.
Anderson reportedly throws harder now but if I hear of someone throwing 95 in A ball I generally expect them to average 92 in the majors, maybe 93.
And Sims curve is not junk. His curve is very good. His problem is that he doesn't have the control necessary to take advantage of it. A nasty hammer doesn't do you nearly as much good when you're not able to get ahead with your fastball.