Touki on the mound tonight
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zitothebrave
Connoisseur of Minors
Control isn't always improved though. Many relievers are relievers because they never got their control down. It hints to a repetition in mechanics issue. One I'm sure will be worked on some more.
zbhargrove
Well-known member
I understand that, but at 20 years old in A ball, he's shown enough strides to where I think he has a very good chance to make the adjustments.
Is your omission of Anderson, Mueller and Wentz based on your assessment of their lower ceilings, or have they just not been around long enough for you to evaluate, and therefore, aren't eligible yet for your consideration? In horribly small sample sizes, they've been rather awesome collectively, so I wasn't sure if you were writing them off, or just haven't written them in yet.
Yep, then had a dropped 3rd strike to make up for it. I'll take a guy like Touki all day over a guy with mediocre stuff that has a good feel for pitching in A ball. All he needs is command.
Of course not. But I'll take insane stuff with control issues over great control and meh stuff all day. Because as zb said, you can improve control. You're rarely going to see a big jump in stuff.
Touki still has about 4 years to figure it out.
And what exactly is your point? Do you think Kershaw would be great if he were still walking guys at that rate?
Everyone fixates on Touki's Ks, but the only number anyone interested in seeing him get better should really care about is the BBs. And he is still walking his way to 4 inning appearances.
I don't know much about them since there haven't been many scouting reports on them as pros. And no, I don't put any stock into the blurbs written about prospects by sites affiliated with the Braves.
Deester11
Well-known member
I"m sure everyone knows there is still work to be done there. I don't think anyone is fooling themselves into thinking he's figured it out. What I do see from posters are that they LOVE (as they should) the potential IF he figures it out. I'd say at 20 Y/O with limited pitching background is doing fairly well. He played Soccer until he moved to the states and his athleticism seems to dictate that he'll get it albeit slower than someone whos played a lot. BB's suck, but his potential is a huge draw.
Managuarantano's Volunteers
<B><I>The Artist Formally Known as <P>Ventura's St
I would add hit/homer prevention to that. If he can start throwing no-hitters, he can keep this level of control.
Haha what? My point was clearly that a poor BB rate in A ball doesn't necessarily mean that much. And yes, everyone should be interested in the Ks. Last year his Ks were not very high while his BBs were high. That is not a good combo.
This year, the Ks have improved by a lot while the BBs have remained constant. That is a very good sign in his development. Of course he has to get the BBs down eventually, but he has 3-4 years to figure it out. Now BBs are the primary issue he has, yes. But the fact that is true is a very big step in his development. That is why people are excited.
Continuing to say, 'Yeah, but the BBs' is asinine, IMO. We know it's an issue and will likely continue to be an issue at least for a little while. If he fixed the BB issue, he would instantly become one of the top prospects in all of baseball.
Horsehide Harry
<B>Mr. Free Trade</B>
Touki's best pitch is probably the curve. It's quite possible that the quality of umpiring (or lack) is hurting him on getting calls with the curve. I don't know, but I would speculate that it's possible that he will get more calls as he moves up the ladder simple because the umpiring will be better (theoretically).
bravesfanMatt
Steve Harvey'd
Touki is getting better... even in the walk department. His last 90 days, He has a 3.54 ERA with a 4.7 BB/9 and a 8.7 K/9.. yes the walk rate is high still but it is trending right. He need to avoid nights like last night and he will be fine.
His June numbers were great. 2.17 ERA with a 9.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9..
July has been a bit more erratic especially his last start that spiked his BB/9 and K/9 a lot.
Funny thing with Touki is that younger hitters are doing better against him.. much SSS though.
61 Abs, .271/.400/.417 with a BB% of 17% and K rate of 21% against younger hitters
338 Abs, .212/.321/.358 with a BB% of 12% and K rate of 21% against older hitters..
His June numbers were great. 2.17 ERA with a 9.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9..
July has been a bit more erratic especially his last start that spiked his BB/9 and K/9 a lot.
Funny thing with Touki is that younger hitters are doing better against him.. much SSS though.
61 Abs, .271/.400/.417 with a BB% of 17% and K rate of 21% against younger hitters
338 Abs, .212/.321/.358 with a BB% of 12% and K rate of 21% against older hitters..
Deester11
Well-known member
That's a lot of it. Honestly have seen hitters so baffled by it that they don't offer and the pitch that started at the batter is in the left handed batters box! If you've been to Rome's stadium, you notice there is always...noise. Just noise. Funny when he pitches and throws that curve, the crowd is oohing and ahhing...I lead those. LOL. I'd be more worried about him if he's been pitching his whole life and still doesn't have a clue. But he does. His delivery needed an adjustment...I think he's going to be fine. Time will tell.
Thanks for clarifying. I was hoping that it wasn't that you'd reached an educated negative conclusion about them already. With incredibly rare exceptions, prospects are generally never sure things, and the odds are low on any individual brand new high school pitcher becoming a TOR MLB starter, but it's fun to dream, and nice to see some HS arms with apparent upside.
Southcack77
Well-known member
He's been pretty good lately, but walks like so many other Braves are a problem.
Interesting that he has found the strikeout groove, though. He wasn't striking out guys commensurate with his ability for a bit. Now he's doing a lot more of it.
I wonder if the increase in Ks correlates with an increase in BBs.
Interesting that he has found the strikeout groove, though. He wasn't striking out guys commensurate with his ability for a bit. Now he's doing a lot more of it.
I wonder if the increase in Ks correlates with an increase in BBs.
Deester11
Well-known member
some of you need to go to Rome and watch him. His command really wanes but there are at least two walks a game I've seen where the UMP, the batter and fans didn't know what to do with that curve. His ceiling is high enough that wouldn't care if he goes one level each year. He has improved a lot. Nowhere near where he needs to be but he's better.