Archive for Starting Pitchers

During the offseason, we touched upon the absolutely ridiculous range of the Seattle Mariners’ new outfield. With imports Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez joining Ichiro Suzuki out in the pasture, the M’s figured to possess three center field-worthy gloves to cover the gaps (Ken Griffey Jr. has since been added, to fill the Raul Ibanez comedic relief role).

The potential gain of a Chavez/Gutierrez/Suzuki alignment over Seattle’s consortium of laggardly leather in 2008 is huge, with a swing of perhaps 5 wins (more, if Chavez continues to see the field regularly). Granted, some of those gains will be returned in the hitting department, but the stable of fleet-footed defenders had to be a welcome addition to a pitch-to-contact rotation (M’s starters ranked 22nd in K/9 in 2008, with 5.92).

While Ichiro (ulcer) has only recently returned to the field following his first ever DL stint, Chavez and Gutierrez have put on a clinic in left and center. In ’08, the Mariners’ outfield posted a collective -4.6 UZR/150, meaning that Seattle’s fly-catchers were about five runs worse than average per 150 games played.

In 2009, the M’s outfield has compiled a spit-take worthy 56.9 UZR/150, lapping the field by a significant margin (the Rockies are currently second, with 36 UZR/150). Granted, we are talking about a small sample of games, and no bold claims should be made on defensive numbers in mid-April, but the change in quality has been nothing short of stunning.

Currently, Mariners pitchers have allowed a .128 Batting Average on Balls in Play on flyballs in 2009 (the A.L. average thus far is .230). Last year, M’s hurlers posted a .213 BABIP on flyballs (.215 league average).

Short of finding a way to clone Willie Mays a couple of times, it would be hard to keep up that pace. But, Seattle’s outfield trio comes with glowing scouting reports and the numbers to back them up. Strikeout-challenged starters such as Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva might not look quite as bad, with so many balls put in play being converted into outs, and the resurgent Erik Bedard is slanted toward the flyball end of the pitching spectrum.

Outfield defense might not seem like a big deal from a fantasy perspective, but having quality defenders behind a pitcher can be the difference between a guy being roster-worthy or simply waiver fodder. With Chavez, Gutierrez and now Ichiro manning the outfield, whomever takes the mound for the M’s does so with a leg up on the competition.

As we get ready for Week 3, most teams will have reached a point where they are using fifth starters. The schedule still has a few extra off days, so clubs may or may not be on a strict every-fifth-day rotation. Assuming they are, here are five interesting pitchers slated for two starts in leagues whose week starts on Monday.

Justin Masterson – With Daisuke Matsuzaka on the disabled list, Masterson makes his first start of the season on Monday. He is at home versus the Orioles on Monday and if he stays in the rotation will be at home to face the Yankees at the end of the week.

Jordan Zimmermann – The Nationals are slated to promote top prospect Zimmermann from the minors to make his first start of the season at home versus the Braves. His second start will be at New York versus the Mets.

Andrew Miller – The sixth pick of the 2006 draft gets a start Monday at Pittsburgh and later in the week the lefty Miller has a home start versus the lefty-heavy Phillies.

Scott Richmond – After a strong outing (6.1 IP, 1 ER) in his last start versus the Twins, Richmond has a home start versus the Rangers on Tuesday and at Chicago on Sunday.

Armando Galarraga – Last year’s surprise pitcher sees if he can keep his hot 2009 start going with games Tuesday at the Angels and Sunday at Kansas City.

Other potential two-start pitchers in Week 3 are:

Simon, Eveland, Pettitte, Lowe, Correia, Moyer, Hampton, Marquis, Garland, Contreras, Hendrickson, Baker, Wakefield, Ramirez, Laffey, Anderson, Sabathia, Kawakami, Martis, Parra, Blanton, Sanchez, Karstens, McCarthy, Owings, Harden, Kershaw, Ortiz, Perez, Pineiro, Morales, Petit, Weaver, Sonnanstine, Washburn, Peavy and Cain.

Earlier this month, we discussed Athletics southpaw Brett Anderson and his surprising polish for such a youthful starter. It’s only fitting that we now turn our attention to right-hander Trevor Cahill, as Oakland’s lefty-righty prospect duo has been inextricably linked since Anderson’s arrival in the system last year. Cahill is peanut butter to Anderson’s jelly; they just go together.

While Anderson was brought in as part of the freighter of talent acquired from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal, Cahill was a second-round draft pick out of Vista, California in the 2006 amateur draft. The A’s paid Cahill $560K to eschew a scholarship to Dartmouth, valuing an emerging arm that Baseball America claimed had “surprising feel and command for such an inexperienced pitcher.”

You would have thought that Cahill polished his game and got that Ivy League diploma, judging from the way he pummeled opposing batters in his full-season debut in 2007. In 105.1 innings with Kane County, Cahill struck out exactly 10 batters per nine innings, while inducing a boatload of grounders (56.4 GB%) with an arsenal including a low-90’s sinker, a knuckle-curve, a slider and a changeup. His control was just moderate (3.42 BB/9), but the combination of whiffs and worm-burners was exciting, to say the least.

The 6-3, 195 pounder began the 2008 season in what can often be pitching purgatory: the High-A California League. Undeterred, Cahill bested his ’07 FIP (2.74) by posing a 2.63 mark with Stockton in 87.1 IP. You name it, and Cahill improved upon it: his K rate climbed to 10.61, he slightly shaved down the walks (3.19 BB/9), and he was downright Webb-esque in keeping the ball in the dirt (61.4 GB%).

Passing that test with flying colors, Cahill was bumped up to AA Midland, where he tossed 37 frames. He hit the first rocky path of his career with the RockHounds, though you wouldn’t know it from a cursory look at his ERA (2.19). Not that he was bad by any stretch, but Cahill walked 4.62 batters per nine, with 8 K/9 and a 3.90 FIP. The grounders kept coming, however, at a 61.8% clip.

Cahill has always been considered an integral part of future A’s contenders, but his time in the big leagues came a year before most anticipated that he would grace the Coliseum. Cahill’s major league debut versus the Angels on April 7th was turbulent (5 IP, 5 walks, 1 K), but he turned in a quality outing on the 12th versus the Mariners (7 IP, 1 R, 2 hits).

Cahill might not be as major league-ready as his southpaw partner in crime (his control can desert him at times). But, the 21 year-old looks an awful lot like a Brandon Webb starter kit: a good number of swings and misses, coupled with a ground-based attack that makes it difficult for opponents to loft the ball out of the infield. That represents the best-case scenario, of course, but Cahill could entangle hitters for years to come as the A’s synthesize yet another formidable rotation.

If you mentioned the name “Erik Bedard” to a Mariners fan during the 2008 season, odds are you would have received a menacing glare, followed perhaps by a desultory comment or two about your lineage. Bedard was baseball’s version of Lord Voldemort, “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” for fear that doing so would force the cosmos to swoop in and pilfer another round of Mariners prospects.

Then under the command of unsteady hand Bill Bavasi, the M’s acquired Bedard prior to the ’08 season using fuzzy math: “88 wins plus studly southpaw equals playoffs.” Unfortunately, Seattle was not working with an 88-win talent base: going by the club’s runs scored (798) and allowed (825), the Mariners should have finished at a run-of-the-mill 79-83.

Seattle expended two immense young talents to acquire the powerful-but-fragile lefty, sending rangy center fielder Adam Jones and right-hander Christopher Tillman to the O’s, along with Anthony Butler, Kameron Mickolio and George Sherrill. While Jones was busy covering wide swaths of territory in the bigs and Tillman was beating up Double-A batters at age 20, Bedard tossed all of 81 frames for the M’s (only 28 more than Sherrill did out of the ‘pen for Baltimore).

Bedard was a force for the O’s in ’07, utilizing his low-90’s gas and power curve to post a 3.19 FIP and 5.4 Value Wins (that after compiling 5 wins in 2006). But in ’08, you name it, Bedard hurt it: hip, back and shoulder injuries caused the Canadian to turn in just 1.1 Value Wins. His whiff rate, which spiked to nearly 11 per nine innings in 2008, fell to 8 per nine, and he handed out 4.11 BB/9. The result was a 4.32 FIP- not exactly the desired return when you part with years of cost-controlled goodness from two top-notch farm products.

After a hectic offseason that included rumors of a serious shoulder injury and the possibility of the M’s washing their hands of Bedard by non-tendering him, the 30 year-old has rocketed out of the gate in 2009. In 13.1 innings, Bedard has flummoxed batters with a 15/1 K/BB ratio and just 9 hits allowed.

No grand conclusions should be drawn from two starts against the Twins and A’s, but Bedard has induced swinging strikes on 12.3% of his pitches (8.9% in 2008; the league average is 7.8%). His sweeping curve was superb against Oakland (check out the BrooksBaseball.net Pitch F/X tool-it’s a great resource), with over eight inches of dropping action as well as nearly 7 inches of horizontal break. His fastball also had plenty of tailing action, and he threw the pitch for a strike nearly 70% of the time. In Bedard’s stellar outing versus the Twinkies, he located his breaking ball for a strike almost 84% of the time.

Bedard will need to contribute far more than two great starts in April for the sting of the Jones/Tillman trade to even begin to fade (it likely never will), but a healthy Bedard (along with Felix Hernandez) would give the M’s one of the better one-two punches in the American League. His injury history is too lengthy to ignore, but Bedard could provide ace-level production at a discount for owners, given the sour taste he left in the mouths of many in 2008.

You’ll have to forgive Cardinals fans who became nostalgic yesterday afternoon, watching former pitching messiah Chris Carpenter twirl a seven-inning masterpiece versus the hapless Pirates. For one game anyway, it was 2006 all over again.

The fact that Carpenter is even able to take the mound at this point in his career is a testament to modern medicine. Carp suffered a torn labrum as a Toronto Blue Jay back in 2002, which Baseball Prospectus med-head Will Carroll called “a professional death sentence for pitchers.”

Of course, the big right-hander did not go silently into the night, eventually establishing new heights with the Cardinals. Carpenter showed promise with the Jays, generally posting Fielding Independent ERA’s in the low-to-mid fours, but he morphed into a bona-fide ace with the Red Birds. Carp was once supposed to team up with Toronto stud Roy Halladay to form a dynamic one-two punch north of the border. While that didn’t occur, Carpenter essentially became a Doc Halladay doppelganger from 2004 to 2006:

2004: 182 IP, 7.52 K/9, 1.88 BB/9, 52.2 GB%, 3.85 FIP
2005: 241.2 IP, 7.93 K/9, 1.90 BB/9, 54.5 GB%, 2.90 FIP
2006: 221.2 IP, 7.47 K/9, 1.75 BB/9, 53.3 GB%, 3.44 FIP

Carpenter’s pro career reached its apex in ’06: not only did he celebrate a World Series title, but he also inked a lucrative contract extension that winter. The Cards locked up their mended ace for five years and $63 million, plus a 2012 club option.

Unfortunately, his stardom was once again put on hold. The immense workload shouldered during Carpenter’s Cy Young 2005 season and championship-winning 2006 campaign had taxed his body. He went under the knife for Tommy John surgery, but as Carroll explains, his path back to the majors has been rife with sharp left turns:

“During his rehab, though, things have gone anything but predictably. He had a shoulder strain as well as nerve issues in his elbow (a common TJ complication) and in his shoulder, a combination which doctors have called “unprecedented.” The nerve transposition in his elbow is perhaps the most controversial element of what was done in Carpenter’s surgery; most surgeons currently move the ulnar nerve as a part of the Tommy John procedure to avoid this kind of setback, but it was not done in Carpenter’s case.” (Will Carroll’s Under The Knife: Chris Carpenter, March 11, 2009).

While it’s anyone’s guess as to how well the 34 year-old will hold up in the long run, Carpenter was stellar in his season-opening start against the Bucs. He did not allow a hit through 6.2 frames, whiffing seven and walking none. Here’s a quick look at Carp’s Pitch F/X data for the game:

Carpenter broke out all of his pitches versus the Pirates, mixing in fastballs, sinkers, cutters, curves, sliders and a couple changeups:

(X is horizontal movement, Z is vertical movement. FB= fastball, SI= sinker, FC= cutter, SL= slider, CB= curveball, CH= changeup).

FB: 93.1 MPH, -10.5 X, 5.39 Z, 27 thrown
SI: 92.6 MPH, -11.55 X, 4.97 Z, 15 thrown
FC: 89.1 MPH, -1.05 X, 6.13 Z, 13 thrown
SL: 88.5 MPH, -0.66 X, 4.4 Z, 16 thrown
CB: 75.5 MPH, 6.6 X, -9.9 Z, 19 thrown
CH: 85.9 MPH, -10 X, 7.3 Z, 2 thrown

Carpenter’s fastball had an absurd amount of tailing action in on the hands of right-handed hitters, with good velocity to boot. He also used the cutter/slider to keep lefties honest, while buckling knees with his dastardly curveball. Look at the movement on that Uncle Charlie: nearly 10 inches of drop, with over six and a half inches of side-to-side movement as well. Think about the plight of the righty hitter for a moment: Carpenter could toss you a fastball that runs right into the nub of your bat, or he could flip a curve way in the opposite direction that just falls off the table. How do you hit that (I suppose you don’t, eh Pirates)?

Keep in mind that this was just one outing, but Chris Carpenter seemingly picked up exactly where he left off in October of 2006. He threw a cornucopia of quality offerings, befuddling batters with a bowling-ball heater and a curve worthy of Vin Scully’s “Public Enemy No. 1” designation. Don’t get too worked up, but Carpenter sure did look like his old self on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals (on the hook for $43.5 million over the next three years) can only hope it continues.

Nick Adenhart, the Los Angeles Angels top prospect, was killed this morning just hours after making his first start of the Major League Baseball season. Adenhart pitched six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics last night before the traffic accident.

It is reported that Adenhart was a passenger in a car that was passing through an intersection when a van allegedly ran a red light. Three people in the car, including the 22-year-old pitcher, were killed – two at the scene and one later at the hospital, according to a local TV station. The names of the other people killed in the accident have not been released.

Allegedly, the driver of the van fled the scene but was later captured and charged with felony hit-and-run. Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Angels organization have yet to comment on the tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Adenhart family, the Angels organization and baseball fans everywhere.

Atlanta Braves rookie Jordan Schafer got the 2009 MLB season going with a bang for his fellow rookies last night with a home run in his first Major League at-bat. One can only hope that the fireworks is a sign of good things to come from the 2009 rookie class.

Texas Rangers prospect Tommy Hunter has a good chance to see significant time in Arlington this season, even though he will begin 2009 in the minors, likely at Triple-A Oklahoma. The right-hander rocketed through the minors in 2008 after being selected in the supplemental first round of the 2007 amateur draft out of the University of Alabama.

The 22-year-old hurler threw just 17.2 innings in his pro debut in 2007 but then tossed more than 160 innings at three minor league levels in 2008. He added an additional 11 innings at the MLB level, where he was over-matched and allowed 23 hits (18.8 H/9) and 20 earned runs. In fact, Hunter was hittable at every level that he pitched, allowing 170 hits in 163.2 minor-league innings.

He did, though, show very good command with a 1.84 BB/9 rate. His strikeout rate was not as promising, as it was above 7.00 K/9 at High-A ball and in the Majors, but it was below 5.00 K/9 in Double-A and Triple-A. In total, his minor league strikeout rate was just 5.72 K/9, which is below average for a potential No. 3 starter. With experience, Hunter has room to improve his ‘K’ rate, as his repertoire includes an 89-94 mph fastball, plus curveball, slider and change-up.

Hunter will probably benefit the most if he can remain in Triple-A until at least June or July. Knowing the state of the Rangers’ pitching, though, he could very well be up by the end of April. The big league rotation currently includes Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Kris Benson, Brandon McCarthy, and Matt Harrison. If Hunter does appear in the Majors for a significant amount of time in 2009 then he could provide innings and maybe some wins (He also won’t hurt you in the walks department), but there will probably be a fair number of hits allowed, and possibly a low number of strikeouts. Hunter does not have the ceiling of Neftali Feliz or Derek Holland, but he’s probably more MLB ready and of more value to fantasy baseball managers in 2009.

The American League West is shaping up to be a battle of attrition in 2009. Sure, the Angels are coming off of a 100-win campaign, but short of a Disney revival that pulls Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd out of retirement, that’s not occurring again. With downright nefarious injuries striking the rotation and a Teixeira-less offense, LAA figures fall well short of 2008’s pace.

As such, the spread of talent in the West is not all that great: PECOTA forecasts the Athletics to take the division crown with just 84 victories, with the Angels breaking even and the Mariners (77 wins) and Rangers (70) filling out baseball’s short-stack division.

Sensing there’s no time like the present, Oakland has pulled out all the stops to contend in ’09. No doubt, the club’s farm system is in dramatically better shape than it was at this point last year (so they’re well-equipped for the long run as well). However, Matt Holliday was imported from the Rockies and the one-two prospect punch of Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson will fill out a rotation worn thin by the continued health issues of nominal ace Justin Duchscherer. Starting with Anderson, let’s meet Oakland’s latest infusion of highly-regarded mound talent.

The word that has always come attached to Anderson is “polish.” Son of Oklahoma State baseball coach Frank Anderson, Brett lasted until the second round of the 2006 amateur draft due to signability concerns (according to Baseball America, he wanted $1 million) and qualms over his athleticism. A portly kid at the time, Anderson elicited mixed reviews from scouts. On the one hand, southpaws with advanced off-speed offerings (in Anderson’s case, a plus curve and changeup) are rare commodities. On the other hand…

“So what’s not to like? Scouts say it’s Anderson’s glaring lack of athleticism. He has a soft, 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, and he has trouble fielding bunts and covering first base. Some scouts say he has the best command of any high school lefty in recent memory, while others say he may be the worst athlete taken in the first round in years.” (Baseball America’s 2006 Draft Database)

Luckily, the 100 meter sprint, pole vaulting and freestyle swimming were not added to professional baseball. But, the whole pitching thing? Anderson excelled at it like few others.

Arizona signed him for $950K, and Anderson ripped through the D-Backs’ system in his debut season in 2007. He soared with the Silver Hawks in the Low-A Midwest League, posting prodigious numbers (2.03 FIP, 9.41 K/9, 1.11 BB/9) in 81.1 innings.

Promoted to Visalia of the High-A California League, Anderson continued to chop batters down as a member of the Oaks: he whiffed 9.23 hitters per nine while walking 2.54 per nine. An elevated BABIP (.386) and some homer trouble (1.38 HR/9) pushed his FIP to 4.07, but that’s still extremely impressive for a teenager in the most perilous league for pitching prospects. In addition to the K’s and precise command, Anderson posted a 55.2 GB% for the year.

After being included in the talent haul acquired by the A’s in the Dan Haren deal, Anderson returned to the Cal league to open up 2008. He continued to dominate (9.73 K/9, 2.19 BB/9, 59.7 GB% in 74 IP), earning a promotion to AA Midland. In 31 frames for the RockHounds, Anderson saw his already-impressive strikeout rate spike to 11.03 per nine, while his customarily sharp command (2.61 BB/9) and worm-burning (53.8 GB%) remained intact.

Anderson has all of 30-some frames above A-Ball, but he might just be ready to his first foray into the majors. It’s hard to find a flaw with the lefty. Does he miss bats? Check. Exhibit good control? Check. Keep the ball on the ground? Check.

The 21 year-old also backs up those exceptionally strong numbers with positive scouting reports: he won’t cause anyone to drool over his radar gun readings, but his low-90’s fastball has sink, his curve and change remain crisp, and he also mixes in a solid mid-80’s slide piece for good measure. What’s not to like? It might sound crazy, but of all of Oakland’s youthful arms, Anderson might just be the most major league-ready.

When it comes to transforming drifting pitchers into gold, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan is considered to possess the Midas Touch. Tony La Russa’s right-hand man since the 80’s, Duncan is often credited with getting the most out of the talent at hand. One of the latest Duncan disciples is right-hander Todd Wellemeyer.

A powerfully built 6-3, 195 pounder, Wellemeyer was originally selected by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 2000 amateur draft. He fooled more than his share of batters in the minors, punching out 9.6 per nine innings, but superfluous free passes often left observers frustrated (4 BB/9).

That lack of fine touch was only exacerbated during three trial-runs with Chicago between 2003 and 2005. Mostly a starter during his minor league tenure, Wellemeyer was placed in the ‘pen upon arriving in the big leagues. His low-90’s heat and occasionally-plus breaking ball induced swings and misses (9.8 K/9 in 84.1 IP), but Wellemeyer was not-so-happily a Three True Outcomes pitcher. He issued 6.5 BB/9 and put many a souvenir onto Waveland Avenue (1.4 HR/9).

And so began Wellemeyer’s nomadic existence. He was flipped to the Marlins prior to opening day in 2006, but he floundered as a fish. After 21.1 innings of getting filleted (5.5 BB/9, 5.48 ERA), Florida disposed of Wellemeyer, but the pitching-starved Royals reeled him in off waivers in June. He was superficially more impressive with KC (3.63 ERA in 57 frames), but an ugly 1-to-1 K/BB ratio (5.8 K’s and BB’s per nine) suggested that was more the product of happenstance than progress. Overall, Wellemeyer’s FIP for the year was 4.83, and that came with a lower-than-expected HR/FB rate of 7.1%.

Evidently the Royals concurred that little progress had been made, as Wellemeyer was let go after sordid beginning to the 2007 season (15.2 IP, 10.34 ERA, 9/11 K/BB). Still seeing some modicum of promise in the then-28 year-old’s 92 MPH heat and hard slider, the Cardinals claimed Wellemeyer of waivers in May. As a Red Bird, he split his time between relief and the rotation, compiling a 3.11 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and a still-elevated 4.1 BB/9 in 63.2 IP. Waiver-wire Wellemeyer wasn’t half-bad in his first action as a major league rotation member, holding opponents to a .702 OPS that far eclipsed his ‘pen work (.830 OPS against).

In ’08, the Cards slotted Wellemeyer into the starting five from the beginning. He made 32 starts for the club, posting a 3.71 ERA in 191.2 innings of work. Does that overstate his case? Yeah, to some extent. Wellemeyer’s FIP was a less-shiny 4.51, as he whiffed 6.29 per nine while benefitting from a .273 BABIP. Still, he exhibited improved control (2.91 BB/9) and was essentially a league-average starter, compiling 1.7 Value Wins. Not bad for a guy whom the Royals dubbed too Proletariat to grace their roster a few springs ago (apparently, it’s okay to suck and start for the Royals so long as you’re a former Brave or have been knighted).

Going forward, it would be prudent to expect some regression in Wellemeyer’s line- he’s not bad by any means, but a sub-four ERA is probably pushing it. CHONE and ZiPS call for identical projections of a 4.57 FIP. That’s not flashy, but you could do far worse in deeper or NL-only leagues. It might have taken five years and four organizations, but Wellemeyer has seemingly found a home.

Imagine being hired at an entry level position for a company. Then, imagine becoming CEO of that company six months later.

Okay, so the ultra-aggressive promotions of ’07 and ’08 bonus babies Rick Porcello and Ryan Perry aren’t quite at that level of expedition, but it’s close. Desperate to infuse the major league club with any talent capable of avoiding a Charlie Brown-like fate on the mound (or a Kenny Rogers-type fate, for that matter), Detroit has called upon its most recently sowed farm products.

Porcello, 20, created quite the buzz during the summer of 2007. A 6-5, 195 pounder with an unusually deep mix of pitches, Porcello committed to North Carolina and was considered an awfully difficult sign. The lanky right-hander was often billed as the best prep pitching prospect since Josh Beckett, and his scouting reports were positively glowing:

“He’s long, lean, athletic and projectable with a clean delivery. His fastball sits at 93-95, touching 98. He holds his velocity deep into outings. He throws a tight curveball at 74-76 and a harder, sharp-breaking slider at 80-82. He shows feel for his changeup. He can spot his fastball to both sides of the plate, and mixes his pitches effectively.” (Baseball America’s 2007 draft coverage)

The luxury price tag and strong Tar Heel ties caused 26 teams to pass on Porcello, but the Tigers stepped up and took the best available talent, price tag be damned. Detroit eventually signed him to a $7 million major league contract, including a nearly $3.6 million bonus.

Porcello made his debut at High-A Lakeland in the Florida State League in 2008. As a teenager, he posted rates of 5.18 K/9 and 2.38 BB/9, with a 3.83 FIP in 125 innings pitched. In most cases, one might be justifiably skeptical of a highly-touted hurler who misses so few bats. However, Porcello exhibited control far beyond his years while showing extreme worm-killing tendencies (64.1 GB%).

In addition, Baseball America noted in its prospect handbook that the Tigers had Porcello on a pitch count, allowing no more than 75 tosses per game. Porcello can touch the mid-to-high-90’s with his four-seam fastball and was known to rip off some nasty sliders in high school (Detroit scrapped the pitch, at least for now). But, he focused on efficiency in ’08, with a low-90’s sinker, a 12-to-6 curve and a plus changeup as his weapons of choice. BA compared Porcello’s overall package to that of Roy Halladay, the dean of controlled, groundballing productivity.

While Porcello easily ranked as Detroit’s top prospect, fireballing right-hander Ryan Perry ranks second on most lists. Popped out of Arizona with the 21st overall pick in the 2008 draft, Perry’s claim to fame is a searing, 97-100 MPH fastball that gets on hitters in a flash. Teaming with fellow ’08 first-rounder Daniel Schlereth (Diamondbacks), Perry short-circuited radar guns and supplemented the heat with an occasionally deadly high-80’s slider. He made a brief cameo last summer between rookie ball and Lakeland, posting a 16/7 K/BB in 13.2 innings.

Perry’s command is not always ideal, which BA claims kept him from developing into a consistent starter at Arizona. However, as a ‘pen arm, he could quickly claim a prominent role with the Tigers. Detroit’s bullpen is essentially a wasteland of decent middle men, an excommunicated starter (Nate Robertson) and reclamation projects (Juan Rincon is still pitching?). Brandon Lyon is a serviceable arm, but he’s a late-inning reliever in name only. Joel Zumaya is baseball’s equivalent of a busted Lamborghini. Fernando Rodney’s level of arson is matched only by former teammate-turned-ridiculously-priced Royal Kyle Farnsworth. Suffice it to say, there’s opportunity here.

It’s nearly impossible to say how quickly Detroit’s top two prospects will acclimate themselves to the major league level. After all, Porcello was getting ready for the prom this time two years ago, and Perry has all of 14 frames of pro pitching to his name. Will sending Porcello and Perry’s development clocks into turbo-drive pay off? Stay tuned.