Jimmy Nelson - Emerging Ace Q&A

[reillymcshane]

Thought this was a really good Q&A with Jimmy Nelson over at Fangraphs:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/qa-jimmy-nelson-milwaukee-brewers-pitcher/

 

He's goes into depth about the adjustments he's made this year, the pitches he throws, etc. Some nice detail.

 

Obviously, Jimmy's progress is one of the season's bright spots. Let's hope he keeps it up.

[igor67]

A good example of why pigeonholing every 2 pitch pitcher as a reliever is lazy scouting. It does not necessarily take all that long to add a 3rd pitch. What I would love to know is what pitcher characteristics correlate best with the ability to add another pitch successfully, and are there particular combinations of pitches and/or grips that are easier to adopt then others?

[Bombers]

A good example of why pigeonholing every 2 pitch pitcher as a reliever is lazy scouting. It does not necessarily take all that long to add a 3rd pitch. What I would love to know is what pitcher characteristics correlate best with the ability to add another pitch successfully, and are there particular combinations of pitches and/or grips that are easier to adopt then others?

In Jimmy's case he was able to throw his change with a similar grip as he uses on his sinker. That obviously helped him. I like how Jimmy has added a pitch to "slow down" the timing of the hitter with his spike curve.

[patrickgpe]

thank god they didn't trade him last season to try to make a playoff run.

[reillymcshane]

I've said this before, but this is why you need lots of prospects. For every one that develops that third pitch you have a handful who don't. It's not always apparent which prospect is going to take the next step. It's trial and error, patience, etc. Guys like Keuchel and Kluber were never top 100 guys, but have figured out that next step. Each could have been given up on (Kluber was in the minors at age 27).

 

I'm not saying Nelson will be Kluber or Keuchel, just that the more solid prospects we can develop, the chance is there for them to emerge as a better player than anticipated. A #5 starter who blossoms into a #3 guy is huge (just as a #3 who becomes a #2 or #1).