Groundball / Flyball pitchers?

[bjkrautk]

Something that I thought of while reading one of the prospect summaries for this year's draft: will the Brewers look to draft groundball pitchers?

 

I'll begin by saying that there are admittedly a number of factors that could affect groundball / flyball ratios in amateaur competition (aluminum bats, lesser talent = lesser contact, etc.) that would have to be accounted for. With that said, Doug Melvin has made it known that he feels groundball pitchers will be most successful in Miller Park. Wouldn't it make sense that, with that in mind, for Melvin to focus on pitchers who induce ground balls (or at the least, whose pitching style suggests will induce ground balls)?

 

I don't know to what respect college & high school players have GB/FB ratios tracked, but I would be interested to see how last year's draft class stacks up in terms of groundball-to-flyball pitchers, particularly early in the draft.

 

 

And, just in case anyone's still wondering, the guy I'm thinking about is Vanderbilt Southpaw Jeremy Sowers, a pitcher whose profile (what he throws and how he likes to pitch) draws comparisons to Tom Glavine (who has a career GB/FB ratio of nearly 3:2). This isn't to suggest that Sowers will be the next Glavine (I wouldn't want to put that tag on any draft pick), so much as a liklihood that Sowers would be a groundball pitcher who will probably be available when the Brewers pick. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on the Rice troika relative to groundball v. flyball, I'd like to hear that as well.

[colbyjack]

Recently I tried to go through some game logs to track GB:FB ratios myself, with the same ideas you have Ben. I stopped fairly quickly as it is a painfully tedious process. If I had more free time on my hand, I would go through & do this with every top pitcher listed (who knows, maybe I will be more compelled to do so now knowing someone else is thinking the same thing). I haven't seen any site that lists these ratios much less any others. Some D1 schools still don't list team stats. And like you mentioned, who knows if those ratios even mean anything given the aluminum bats & other factors.

 

And Sowers has drawn plenty of comparisons to Tom Glavine. It's inevitable any time you have a smallish lefty with average stuff & impeccable command. One player that I often compare Sowers to is Pirates prospect Sean Burnett, rated #2 in their organization. Same size, same stuff, and he too is noted to get groundball outs. While those ratios aren't available for the college pitchers, I do know that Sowers has given up his fair share of HRs at Vandy. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's not a groundball pitcher, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

 

I do know that Florida RHP Justin Hoyman, Tampa RHP Eric Beattie & Boston College RHP Chris Lambert are known for their ability to induce groundballs. Chipola's rehabbing RHP Alan Horne has been compared to Kevin Brown for his nasty sinker-slider combo. Horne was drafted by the Indians in the first round in 2001, turned down first-round bonus money to attend Mississippi and hasn't been healthy much since. I would not be surprised to see the Brewers take any of these guys given their expressed interest in acquiring groundball pitchers, and I don't see why they wouldn't apply that to potential draftees.