Touki on the mound tonight

Touki has looked much improved over the last 6 games. During that stretch he has gone 2-1 with a ERA=2.43, 33.4 IP, 27 H, 9 ER, 5 HR, 15 BB, 37 K.

Those are some down right positive numbers. 5 out of 6 games he has allowed 1 ER or fewer. Yes he walks a lot, but that is not causing him damage like a contact pitcher. What is scary about his stats is that he has allowed 5 HR in 6 games. I guess he hangs a curveball every once in a while. If he finishes the year on this type of run, then he may take over Mississippi next year.
 
Touki is definitely starting to figure it out. The K rate suggests he is getting better at repeating his mechanics and hitting his spots. Just needs to keep that progress going.

But his walk rate is actually improving as the year goes on as well, certainly not getting worse. Through May, he had 28 walks in 43 IP. Since, he has 39 walks in 83.1 IP. His BB rate is obviously still high, but a BB rate under 4.5 is not a big issue at all for a 20-year-old pitcher.

Also, through May, he had just 24 K in those 43 IP, and since he has 97 K in 83.1 IP.

In fact, this is his overall line since the start of June: 15 GS, 83.1 IP; 63 H, 39 BB, 26 ER, 97 K

~5.2 IP/start, 6.8 H/9, 4.2 BB/9 (1.22 WHIP); 2.81 ERA, 10.5 K/9, 2.5 K/BB

Say what you want, he's been really good for 3 months now. He's definitely turned a big corner and will still be 20 for just about half of next year.
 
Deester11 said:
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.
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This is a very interesting point. I wish I could watch him pitch more often.
 
Enscheff said:
This is a very interesting point. I wish I could watch him pitch more often.
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I'm not a paid scout nor do I talk about when I played but over time I have tendencies I look at in all ball players. I started really my own scouting when Alejandro Machado was a pretty good SS the GCL for us. The great 8 in Greenville...yada,yada...

I say all that to say I'm a homer but will tell you what I see. I get to 30 minor league games a year. This year I've seen Touki 4 times. 3 good, one horrid. Even in the horrid game the ump kept wanting to give Touki the strike but our C's were awful and couldn't come close to framing a pitch. He's so young at pitching and is still playful and learning. I don't know that he'll make it but his ceiling is as high as any of our other pitchers not named Newcomb and Allard.

Good call Enscheff. I didn't expect that. Ha.
 
Deester11 said:
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.
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Uh leave my house? What do you think I have fangraphs bookmarked for?
 
Deester11 said:
I don't know that he'll make it but his ceiling is as high as any of our other pitchers not named Newcomb and Allard.
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Personally, I think his ceiling is at least as high as those guys. Best 1-2 pitches in our system.

I hope he gets some love in offseason prospect rankings. He is absolutely one of the top 100 prospects in the game.
 
Touki could be scary good. The guy's talent is incredible and the curve is devastating. If he can continue to work on two more pitches, add the curve in as a strikeout pitch, dude would be incredible.
 
thewupk said:
Could this trade be worse than the Swanson one for the Dbacks?
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I think both will be long time Braves regulars. Touki has to have one of the highest ceilings of any young prospect in the game... his curve is just plain disgusting plus he can crank the velocity.
 
gilesfan said:
I think he's going to be our long term closer.
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That's pretty close to a worst-case scenario, IMO, and even then, he would probably be special in that role. If he's maxing out, he'll be at 97-98 with that curve.

As far as the trade, they're both embarrassingly dumb on the D-Backs' end. They both completely shocked me.
 
smootness said:
That's pretty close to a worst-case scenario, IMO, and even then, he would probably be special in that role. If he's maxing out, he'll be at 97-98 with that curve.

As far as the trade, they're both embarrassingly dumb on the D-Backs' end. They both completely shocked me.
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I don't consider it even a bad scenario. A closer is a very valuable piece. Especially on a rookie contract. A future middle reliever is a knock. I think he's going to have trouble making it as a starter due to lack of consistency in his mechanics and lack of a 3rd pitch. But, the 2 pitch fastball/curve would allow him to possibly be an upper echelon closer. Kind of remind me of Feliz though Feliz had a more advanced changeup and less advanced curve.
 
smootness said:
I don't, either. That's how much I believe in him. I think barring injury or some kind of bizarre loss in velocity/stuff, he is at least our future closer.
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completely agree with both of you. Touki's floor is a closer and ceiling TOR starter. I think he might be more suited for the pen because of what Giles said.. Still a steal for 10 million.. But didn't we off load a lot of that pitcher's cpmtract to the Dodgers in the HO debacle.
 
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