Ryan Braun on Wily Peralta

[The stache]

The NL MVP's comments today after the game:

 

"He's been amazing," Braun said. "I look at his stuff, and I don't know how he's not the top prospect in baseball. He has dominant stuff. There are very few guys who have stuff like that in baseball."

 

I don't think this is Brauny talking up a teammate. I am really starting to believe in Wily. It's eerie watching him on the mound. He's got the same kind of body type and game that CC Sabathia has. Not saying he's going to be as good, but 1 one allowed in his last 14 innings pitched....this kid is going to be good.

 

He could be really good.

[logan82]

That is why he was our top prospect going into the year. I think that got marginalized a bit because our system as a whole was pretty bad.

[brewmann04]

I am real excited about the Young Arms that the Crew has.

[TheCrew07]

I don't think this is Brauny talking up a teammate. I am really starting to believe in Wily.

 

I share the contrary opinion, he's definitely talking up Peralta. Wily has always had plenty of warts including spotty location, a max effort delivery, and lack of a 3rd pitch. His slider was never on the same level as Sheets' curve, so he was always going to need a 3rd pitch. He was never polished or dominant enough to be the top prospect in baseball, I wouldn't even put him in the top 50. To logan's point about him marginalized, I don't think so there either, he didn't break out until last season, then flopped to start 2012 in AAA. He's shown just enough over the years to keep the prospect followers around here hopeful, but not enough to be on the top prospect lists from all baseball.

 

There are lots of pitchers around the minor leagues that throw hard and have decent stuff but aren't going to be top prospects, in fact most organizations have a couple of those guys. We actually have 5-6 of those guys now which is nice compared to being soft tosser central in the past, but they aren't going to be in on any prospect guru's top 20 pitchers in baseball, and rightfully so. It's really tough to place boom or bust prospects that high on a list, and that's the category where Peralta has been for much of his career and current prospects like Pena, Hellweg, Rogers, and Scarpetta are now.

 

It's nice that all of these "unproven" pitchers are coming up and pitching well, I'm a pretty happy camper right about now. I have my concerns about all of our young pitchers, mostly that they'll ever throw enough strikes and be efficient enough pitchers to get us 7 innings on a somewhat regular basis, but they will be fun to follow and root for.

[markedman5]

I don't see a max effort delivery. I see a guy hitting 97 in the 7th inning with a cruising speed of 95.

 

Clearly command has been an issue but according to Peralta he has mad a mechanical adjust ment recently(not sure exactly when) and it has really improved his command.

 

I think to he needs to devlope more confidence in the off season in his change up. 3rd pitch is important for a starter.

[jerichoholicninja]

I was 16 rows up at today's game and this was the first time I've really watch Wily pitch from any angle. I haven't seen a Brewer with his fastball and breaking ball since Ben Sheets. The Mets couldn't touch his fastball and they just looked stupid trying to hit his breaking ball. Will he be as good as Ben? I can't say for sure but he was today.

[owbc]

I tend to agree that Peralta is one of those "high ceiling" guys with good stuff but shaky command. Sometimes you never know what you are going to get until you see them at the MLB level. But when a guy like Peralta comes up and starts overpowering major league hitters, it is easy to get excited. Especially because young arms like Peralta are the key to having a successful MLB franchise these days.

 

I'm sure there will be bumps in the road but Peralta will most likely be in the 2013 rotation--and it takes pressure off of Melvin to find FA arms in the offseason.

[Oxy]

Braun is a great leader.

[logan82]

I know this wasn't started as a Peralta vs Sheets debate but seeing as how we haven't had a guy with as good as pure stuff in a while(leaving Rogers out) that seems to be the direction this will go.

 

I don't think his slider is as good as Sheets curve. Not even close. Sheets curve was ridiculous. It looked like a ball rolling off a table withe the same arm slot as his fastball. I don't think his control is as good as Sheets either. I think his change is better than Sheets' though. I think his velocity is a tick better. He has a nice 2 seamer which Sheets never used much. I hope he can be close to as good as Sheets at some point.

[And That]

I don't see the comparison between Sheets and Peralta. While they both have/had big fastballs and power breaking pitches, Sheets was a flyball pitcher who at his best could spot his fastball well enough anywhere in the zone (including up) that when he was also on with his curve, either pitch was nearly unhittable.

 

Peralta's fastball is as hard and has a lot more dip to it, but he doesn't spot it as well, probably in part due to its movement. And because of his fastball's movement and the complimentary slider as a breaking pitch, he'll only have success if he's getting ground balls. At least if and until he develops a change up.

[TheCrew07]

I wasn't trying to compare Sheets and Peralta, they are completely different pitchers.

 

I was trying to point out that the vast majority of starting pitchers need 3 quality pitches, the only 2 very successful starting pitchers in the last 15 or so years that had just 2 pitches were Sheets and Johnson, and both secondary pitches were ++ type to go along with very good command. I was using Sheets as example solely because he was a 2 pitch starting pitcher that even the most casual Brewer fan would know.

 

Peralta had neither the command nor the stuff to get by on just 2 pitches which is why so many prospect gurus pegged him as a reliever. He's come so far, but he still has quite a bit to prove.

 

I didn't mean to sidetrack the discussion with Sheets at all, I was just trying to quickly explain to those that may not be familiar with the concept as to why having 3 pitches is so important for a starting pitcher.

[fondybrewfan]

Peralta still isn't striking too many guys out which makes me a little nervous. No doubt he has good stuff but if his talent and performance in MILB would have warranted a top spot in the rankings then he would have been ranked. There is a reason he was an afterthought to many scouts.

[DHonks]

Interesting the notes on changeups. I thought 2-3 years ago people were saying his success was because of his advanced changeup, not his 90 mph heater (before velocity spike). Frankly if I had a 96 mph sinker that got beaten into the ground, I'd throw it at least 70% of the time.

[Ennder]

If they keep swinging at the stuff out of the strike zone Peralta will be one of the best pitchers in baseball. That just isn't all that likely. Marmol has some of the nastiest stuff in all of baseball but when the umps don't give him breaks and the players don't swing at the 75% of his pitches that aren't for strikes he ends up struggling.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The reason Peralta hasn't been in the majors is his lack of command - Ennder's right, when teams get some more tape on him and realize that he's just as likely to walk you as strike you out if you don't swing, he's going to hve trouble getting deep into games unless he improves his command.

 

I'd love to have him as a #4 or #5 option in the rotation for next season - I wouldn't want to count on him being the #2, but the upside is definitely there if they have enough rotation depth in front of him.

 

I don't see the comparisons with Sheets due to the command issues - I see him more like a Zambrano with his stuff and potential, but lots of room for improvement. Hopefully he can become more consistent and turn into the caliber of pitcher that Zambrano was before his craziness took over his career.

[splitterpfj]

Most starting pitchers can't get by on two pitches, I doubt Peralta will be able to do so.

 

If Wily comes up with a changeup, he could be outstanding, if he never does, he's probably going to be a streaky sort, who belongs in the middle of the rotation, not at the top of it.

[HiAndTight]

I tend to agree that Peralta is one of those "high ceiling" guys with good stuff but shaky command. Sometimes you never know what you are going to get until you see them at the MLB level. But when a guy like Peralta comes up and starts overpowering major league hitters, it is easy to get excited. Especially because young arms like Peralta are the key to having a successful MLB franchise these days.

 

I'm sure there will be bumps in the road but Peralta will most likely be in the 2013 rotation--and it takes pressure off of Melvin to find FA arms in the offseason.

 

 

A couple things.

 

First of all, I don't think Braun really follows the way prospects are ranked, other teams prospects, their development or anything like that. So TC07's argument as to why Peralta wasn't the top pitching prospect is kinda obvious.

 

I think what Braun was saying was based on what he's been seeing, and I don't know how it can be argued he's just talking up a player. The guy VERY possibly could become a #4 type starter, struggle to keep his BB rate at 4.5 or so, but so far what we've seen is a guy who throws an easy 94-96 and can hit 98 late in games, has a dominant, dominant slider at times, has shown what could become a plus change and his command has been outstanding..........in three starts.

 

And there are a lot of these types of pitchers. But there aren't nearly as many as TCO7 is suggesting that have dominated at the upper levels(showing they CAN locate and dominated advanced hitters while being young for their league). And once they have that type of success in the big leagues and they realize that their stuff is good enough to overpower some very good big league hitters, they develop more confidence in their pitches and all the sudden, they take their game to another level.

 

There is no question he has the stuff to be a legit #1 pitcher. Long way to go before he proves it and he doesn't have a track record like others, but why is Shelby Miller ranked so much higher than Peralta?

 

One last thing, I think it's foolish IMO to claim he wasn't a top 50 prospect coming into THIS season the way he finished last.

 

 

 

Either way, I'm going to continue to root for the improbable. For the him to become a #1/2, for the Brewers to get another pitcher from all their flamethrowers, Rogers, Hellweg, Nelson, Pena, Scarpetta to reach their potential and hope for a mostly home grown rotation that can make us legit contenders.

[HiAndTight]

I wasn't trying to compare Sheets and Peralta, they are completely different pitchers.

 

I was trying to point out that the vast majority of starting pitchers need 3 quality pitches, the only 2 very successful starting pitchers in the last 15 or so years that had just 2 pitches were Sheets and Johnson, and both secondary pitches were ++ type to go along with very good command. I was using Sheets as example solely because he was a 2 pitch starting pitcher that even the most casual Brewer fan would know.

Peralta had neither the command nor the stuff to get by on just 2 pitches which is why so many prospect gurus pegged him as a reliever. He's come so far, but he still has quite a bit to prove.

 

I didn't mean to sidetrack the discussion with Sheets at all, I was just trying to quickly explain to those that may not be familiar with the concept as to why having 3 pitches is so important for a starting pitcher.

 

A GB pitcher that is throwing 97-98 late in innings with a + slider isn't good enough stuff by who's estimation? And few prospect "guru's," had him as a reliever coming into this season. In fact had him as an innings eating starting pitcher with the upside of a #2.

 

he was also hardly an afterthought by scouts.

 

And to ender, his ball has a lot of movement on it. I don't think it's as simple as telling hitters to just "not swing," and he'll become a 4/5 or whatever you tabbed him as.

 

It's amazing how long we wait for a guy like Peralta to show the type of absolutely dominant stuff like he's shown and how so many rush to say, "yeah, but he's not that good," or "well, he won't be that good if he doesn't do this or that."

 

I get it's a small sample size, but there is a reason why teams have scouts who use their actual eyes to watch a player.

 

Not to mention, Peralta does have a changeup. I don't think the argument's been made that at 23 he's a finished product, nor is his change.

 

It's as if we're so worried about getting too excited we're looking for reasons to not be high on him.

 

 

-Sorry, one last thought. There have been quite a few more pitchers who've succeeded with just two pitchers over the last 15 years than Johnson and Sheets. I don't know where that comes from. RA Dickey has done pretty good with effectively one pitch. There are several pitchers who throw their fastball/change 90 pct of the time.