I never said anything about the rest of his repertoire. I mentioned his splitter was deadly, wish is something everyone mentioned in all his scouting reports, and that he was getting a ton on swing and misses on it. Then you went into some sort of bizarre tangent about why it wasn't a very good pitch.
Minor League Thread Part Deux
- Thread starter 50PoundHead
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Deester11
Well-known member
Toning down his usage is probably a good analogy, but it's more than that with Waldrep. I'm not Enscheff, but I do look at surface numbers. A few things:
First: his latest start was not his only good one. He's posted about 3 good ones in a row to varying degrees of success. In his last three starts, he has a 2.79 ERA and has pitched into the sixth inning each time. He's finished the sixth in his last two outings.
Just so that we level set. The splitter has not been the issue. It’s the fastball that both doesn’t have enough backspin to get someone to swing under it, and it doesn't have enough horizontal movement to fool hitters to where they can't barrel the pitch. The hitters could basically ignore the splitter because the fastball was all over the place. So that has led to adjustments mainly in his delivery to the plate.
Two: This leads to what adjustments he could make to even get to his splitter. So, if you noticed his delivery at Florida and In the system, he had a more over the top delivery and those types of pitchers usually (IMHO) struggle with command. The killer is to have a FB that is straight or has very little movement and then you're guessing where it's going. Next, you have his leg kick and I think Guarav noticed this: His leg kick is not nearly as high as it was when he got into the system. His knee used to be all the way up to his glove and now it's more like a pickoff move delivery to the plate which IMHO, keeps the trajectory of his body more in line with the plate. The FB IS STILL NOT A HIT AND MISS PITCH on it's own, but he can get more swings and misses if he's ahead in the count and the ONE HITTA SPLITTER is waiting.
On May 8, he had 10 strikeouts and 22 swings and misses over the course of 5.1 innings. Twenty of those whiffs came on his splitter (7) and slider (13). The other two were on his curveball, which he threw just five times. He didn’t get any whiffs on his four-seam fastball, which averaged 95 mph.
This brings me to the Splitter that is the point of contention. He's trying to improve the command of the FB. Thus he's throwing it a lot more. He is using his slider and Splitter with good efficiency and THAT is the point.
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50PoundHead
Hessmania Forever
I always thought Leo Mazzone, while certainly an very good pitching coach, was a bit overrated because of the talent he was working with, but one of his main tenets is that everything works off the fastball. Unless a pitcher has one spectacular pitch that negates that philosophy, he has to effectively locate his fastball or he's probably not going to have a long career.
Deester11
Well-known member
I thought the same thing, but the more I see some of the mental fragile nature of some pitchers, a good ol fashioned cussing out may serve them well. Like pitchers being happy to pitch five innings. What the hell? Ok...that was an old man rant yet again...
WaitingFor2017
Well-known member
Let's see if 19-year-old Rayven Antonio can keep up his great start today for Augusta as they play the Single-A Rays team.
WaitingFor2017
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zbhargrove
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Drake has a ton of raw potential… just my opinion but he seems to me similar to Michael Harris as a minor leaguer. Needs to strikeout less but seems to have been working hard
Hudson2
Well-known member
After watching video that's what I thought was Harris. He looks super intriguing.
Deester11
Well-known member
Sooo...I was going to do a little blurb about Drake and he's not unlike Harris, but as great as I think Harris is, Drake has those tools as well. I wrote about him some time ago, but my feeling was that when he steps between the lines, there are few as athletic as he is. He legit has about 80 grade speed and he shows it.
Fielding: He can flat out run and he can outrun mistakes which he still sometimes makes when reading the ball off the bat. That's about as nitpick as I'll be regarding his defense. He can go get it in the majors right now. Although he does take circle type routes sometimes. He's got easier speed than Harris IMHO, and he's not even breaking a sweat when he runs. Most impressive trait.
Batting: I saw him once when drafted and thought, "that kid is lost." But that doesn't mean I didn't think he'd be good, but raw...raw and more raw, I don't care what HS games and perfect game showcases he played. He did look better every single time batting left handed than right. Kind of an inverse Ozzie. Initially, I didn't like that he seemed to pull off the ball quite a bit. As if he was running before he made contact. If you followed him from a stat only perspective, you'd have given up on him within 2 years of being in the system. So IMHO, I've seen the adjustments that he's made and he is infinitely more in tune with who he is as an athlete. He has started to pull the ball from the right side more and with more authority and he's adjusted his stance to better cover the plate. If he starts lifting, he's going to hit 20 HR's in the majors. I stand by that. He's toolsy as hell! He was over 35% s/o rate last year...This year he's brought that down to 25%...guessing? About once in every 4 Ab's...considering it was once every 2.5 ab's before, you're talking improvement!
This year, he's starting to put his tools to work. Dude seriously has impressed me with his work ethic. I've watched him be engaged and even when he was struggling, his mentality to improve never changed. He's got to start hitting for power to reach the level of tools that he possesses, but so far this year, I'm not counting against him. Things are looking up for him for sure.
Thanks Huddy...
Hudson2
Well-known member
Heck yeah! Great job as always Deester. I've watched him a few times and you can just tell he's different when he plays.
Deester11
Well-known member
I appreciate you guys. One thing I misquoted myself on is he pulls the ball more when thrown to inside. Not "right side". Stupid auto correct. In any case, I've worried about the hitting philosophy for some time now. I haven't dug into that recently but there are strides with many of these guys that are showing albeit slowly. Maybe we need to focus on slow instead of instant gratification.
These guys are inconsistent but showing vast improvement :
Glod - squat and powerful. WHEN he connects it's a great sound off the bat. When he's locked in, you see a different at bat from him. Love his set up...think mini Pujols. Last I saw a HR that he hit that was a no doubter. I keep asking why doesn't he take the same swing twice? Easier said than done I know.
Benitez - powered up big body. He looks the part..but randomly puts great ab's together. Don't know if he'll ever get there but I'd use all of his minor league experience before I let him go. DH all the way IMHO. Don't ever ask him to field the ball
Owen Carey/Eric Hartman - They have worn down a little but their approaches are pretty good for younger kids. They look like baseball 'rats'. Cliché I know but they have been consistent threats at the plate.
There are more less heralded guys but these I saw recently and it got me to thinking, the international guys although disappointing to a large degree, they aren't as lost as they were. Instruction is starting to show even if it's not as fast or consistent as we like. There is no generational guy at the moment (Perdomo is hand down the best potential hitter in my opinion, but he's got a ways to go. If that power shows...look out), but perhaps there are viable pieces that can contribute down the road. Guanipa is snake bit having been hit on the hand by a pitch and broke his finger I think. Guarav told me something like that.
