Abreu and Stanek were 2 of the worse relievers about throwing strikes last year. While I don't get how Stanek has been as successful as he has been the past 2 years about preventing runs, Abreu was/is amazing. If a pitcher can get guys to swing and miss, he can generally survive with less than good control.
The issue of "throwing strikes" certainly is tricky to unravel as it depends partly on a pitcher's ability to hit a desired location and also, maybe moreso, on the pitcher's ability to induce swings on pitches thrown outside of the zone, where these two parameters aren't necessarily related to each other.
Maybe in the 5th inning to finish out the first half of the double header today? Taylor is currently pitching the 4th inning.
Forrest is starting to look a lot like Brown. Power curve for whiffs. Power slider used to get ground balls. High velo fastball that plays better down in the zone. His changeup and curveball are farther along than Brown’s though imo.
Forrest Whitley appeared in the game that resumed and allowed one hit, which was a solo homer, walked one, and struck out four in four innings.
I doubt the regularly scheduled game in Sugar Land will be going as scheduled as the rain is coming in...
I'll never understand (and I'm not heaping blame on them) guys like Redding, Appel, Whitley, etc...just ungodly stuff, literally CY stuff, but something between the ears just never clicked. I still have hope for Whitley though. Take any 5 lifers in AA, because they know how to grind, give them that arm, and you'd have a Verlander/Scherzer/whoever.
Whitley was apparently very good today. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll/game?gamePk=721430&player_id=666215#power_sets Threw 5 pitches. Sat 95-96 on his FB. Only allowed 4 hard hit balls and 2 were on the ground. Very encouraging.
That Asheville game is over, Tourists lost 10-0. Kenedy Corona had 2 hits. Logan VanWey and Franny Cobos combined for 6ip 12k 1bb. Drew Gilbert 0-3 2k and 1bb. Miguel Ullola got rocked.
I have projected VanWey as a single inning relief pitcher with a ceiling of closer. He has the stuff for it but the burn out rate for prospects that profile like he does is higher than most. He is the only prospect on my most valuable prospect list whose ceiling is in relief.
He generally gets more RPM on his pitches at the same velocity as Brown, but seems to throw from a lower slot producing more run in his pitches. He threw a sinker at nearly 2700 RPM with 14” of run for instance. There’s been seven sinkers total thrown thus far this season with that much spin. I could see him having some problems with LHB when he’s not landing his changeup, but that pitch is dynamite as well when he can pitch it competitively. They probably won’t move him in the immediate future but I think he could be ready.
They apparently gave Alex Santos' stats to Vanwey. Vanwey came in bases loaded no outs and struck out the side around a 1 run single. Santos' line was 3.1 IP 6H 1R 1BB 4K. Overall a solid High A debut for both Santos and Vanwey. Santos and Whitley bouncing back this season would be a nice shot in the arm for the system.
Can't say I'm familiar with the undrafted VanWey kid. But with Solis,Santos and Whitley that's a lot of potential "found money" from guys who had largely fallen off the top prospect radar.
