Welcome to the Mountain: Jhoulys Chacin

When set-up man Manny Corpas was placed on the disabled list last Friday by the Colorado Rockies, the club promoted one of its top starting-pitching prospects and placed him into the big-league bullpen.

Jhoulys Chacin made his MLB debut on July 25 against the San Francisco Giants. The 21-year-old Venezuelan worked a scoreless, hit-less inning. He walked one batter and struck out two (including veteran Juan Uribe to end the game) in the 8-2 win for the Rockies. Against the Giants, the game plan from catcher Chris Iannetta was clear: Get ahead in the count with fastballs and then drop the hook, which Chacin did successfully with both his strikeout victims.

Chacin has the potential to be a dominating late-game reliever, but he’s shown throughout his pro career that he also has a chance to be a solid No. 2 or 3 starter, so his work in the ‘pen should be short-lived. It’s a smart move by the organization to ease the right-hander in slowly, given that he has not pitched above double-A until now. This season in Tulsa, he’s allowed 87 hits in 103.1 innings, while posting a walk rate of 3.05 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 7.49 K/9. His control has taken a step back this year, as he walked about two batters per nine innings last year. His strikeout rate has also dropped about one K per nine innings over 2008. Chacin’s 4.01 FIP is also much higher than his 3.14 ERA and with a .273 BABIP, he’s probably been helped a fair bit by his defense.

The Rockies prospect has a good sinking fastball that peaks at 94 mph and he also has a nice changeup. His breaking ball is still a work in progress and is one of the main culprits behind his struggles at double-A in 2009. With any luck, while pitching out of the Colorado bullpen, he can work on sharpening up his curve. To further his development and value, though, the Rockies coaches will have to ensure that Chacin works on the pitch in game situations and does not stick the pitch in his back pocket in favor of his fastball-changeup combo.

Just 21, Chacin has a bright future in Colorado, especially with a career minor league ground-ball rate of 59.6%. The right-hander could end up being a key, young arm late in the 2009 season for the Colorado Rockies, but his fantasy baseball value should be much higher in 2010 and beyond as a member of the starting rotation.