Jeffress vs. Inman

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Ok, so who will have the better career as a Brewer: Jeffress or Inman? Jeffress seems to have the better stuff, but Inman has the better command as expected because he's more advanced in our system.

 

I'd say Jeffress has the higher ceiling with that 100 mph fastball, but Inman is more of a sure thing. I wouldn't mind seeing Jeffress as our closer in 2-3 years.

[1e Corbeau]

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Jeffress seems to have the better stuff, but Inman has the better command as expected because he's more advanced in our system.

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Jeffress has the velocity, which makes his off-speed even more devastating. I read he repeats his delivery well and is "athletic," which we can hope leads to more consistency with command. But, he isn't walking a *ton* of guys and he's certainly getting better results than, say, Mark Rogers was at the same level.

 

Inman, as you wrote, obviously has the command and, from what I remember reading, can throw all his pitches for strikes, is very aggressive, and has a good understanding of how to keep hitters off-balance.

 

While he has the command, I think age is why he's farther in the system the Jeffress. You might write that his command is why Inman is in AA, rather than A+, though.

 

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I'd say Jeffress has the higher ceiling with that 100 mph fastball, but Inman is more of a sure thing.

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As they say, you can't teach velocity, so I'd think more people would say Jeffress has the higher potential with the plus-plus pitch, but it all depends on his ability to develop another pitch or two he can throw for strikes. Again, I think I remember hearing his fastball doesn't have too much movement, so I don't know if he could succeed at the MLB level with two pitches, if he is to remain a starter. Unless, of course, he develops a plus secondary pitch. It's certainly promising that the Brewers are extending him out to 100 pitches in WV already. Especially for a pitcher that skipped Helena.

 

I love Will Inman, but I don't know if I can bring myself to type that any pitching prospect is a sure thing. I'm anxious to see how he handles AA for the rest of this season, and his last outing was certainly promising. I like Powell's comp yesterday between Villanueva and Inman.

 

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I wouldn't mind seeing Jeffress as our closer in 2-3 years.

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I wouldn't mind seeing him in our rotation in 3-4 years. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif Just because he throws hard doesn't mean he will be or is better suited for closing.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I just hope Jeffress isn't another Jose Cappelan where his velocity dives into the low 90's after being claimed as a 100 mph thrower. Inman isn't a sure thing, but he is as close as they get in a system considering how well he's pitched so far. He should start the year in AAA next year and be a September call up or even early if he dominates AAA and stays away from injury.

[wvpowerblkwel]

I've seen both these guys pitch, and saw Jeffress throw tonite. Wil is a pitcher, knows the game, the batters he is facing and can pitch and not just throw, smart pitcher. But with Jeffress he is smooth in his delivery, not as mature in knowing how to pitch, and after watching the board tonite, I never saw anything over 89. They say the speed gun in Charleston can be 5 mph slow, but I did see it read 90 once for the other team's pitcher,and have seen it register as high as 94 for Omar Aguilar here. I like Jeffress, but to this point he is getting better but not dominating hitters the way I have seen Inman and Yo on there passes through Charleston...Jeffress is good, just not ready from an experience standpoint to be compared to those two guys from my point of view...and that was after watching a very good outing from him tonite. Don't expect the world yet, and give the kid a chance to establish himself some more and we all won't be disappointed!

[JoeHova]

Jeffress needs to stay in the rotation for awhile. at least until he proves he can't. I'll be disappointed if he's a reliever any time in the next 2-3 years.

 

Then again, I think the same thing goes for all of the team's top pitching prospects, with the exception of ones who may have serious injury concerns (like Rogers, who apparently has a terrible (I mean mechanically) delivery).

[Kevbo74]

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I never saw anything over 89

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was he working on this slider I'm hearing about? or mixing pitch speeds for a changeup? or was he really trying to throw fast?

 

(this has become the topic of another thread at another place)

[wvpowerblkwel]

Quote: I never saw anything over 89

 

He was mixing pitches and speeds quite a bit. Most of his strikeouts actually came on changes in the low 70's high 60's.

[JoeHova]

I happened to come across this analysis today.

 

It was written by Carlos Gomez (a blogger and former professional player) who is making a name for himself as a mechanics analyst (he does pitchers and hitters). He posted it about a month after last year's draft.

 

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#16 - Milwaukee Brewers - P Jeremy Jeffress

 

I just don?t see how he generates the supposed ?triple-digit? velocity. He doesn?t have the ?intent? or the mechanics to do so. I would need to see more video of him, because on this video he?s not close to 100 mph. I heard 100 mph, so I wouldn?t expect a game-speed fastball at 88 at any point in his video, like I saw here. He at least has the potential to develop more velocity I guess.

 

Grade: D

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Now normally I wouldn't worry much about that, even though I really respect his opinion. He only saw the MLB scouting video, after all. However, now we have some first-hand reports that he is only throwing in the 80s, just as Gomez predicted.

 

If he can really only throw in the high-80s, it's not like his career is over, but it is somewhat worrisome. Villanueva, Gallardo, and Inman don't blow people away with heat either, but they all were more "polished" at similar stages in their development.

 

I really just wish he actually did throw it in the high 90s. It would be nice if even one of those type of guys they thought they were drafting worked out (Gold, Neugy, Jones, Rogers, now Jeffress).

 

 

link:

www.baseballthinkfactory....rst_round/

[TheCrew07]

A report earlier in the Year had Jeffress hitting 103 on the gun. Lets not get carried away about his velocity at this point. If he was in the High 80s, it was probably more like the low 90s, which sounds to me like he's working on controlling his fastball, instead of trying to blow it past hitters.

[Never Outhustled]

I guess we have conflicting reports on Jeffress velocity last night, as this article in the link report has Jeffress 94-96. My guess is the stadium gun is malfunctional. If he started throwing 89 MPH fastballs, he be yanked off the mound, as it would be an indication of injury.

 

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Jeffress allowed two hits and issued two walks in five innings Thursday. Mixing his fastball (94-96 mph), curveball (80-81 mph) and changeup (82-83 mph), the 19-year-old phenom kept the Kannapolis batters off balance and finished his 81-pitch performance with five strikeouts.

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[biedergb]

Also in regard to 100 mph fastball. Just because a guy can throw it (and reportedly has) doesn't mean he will in games. Some relievers do because they are in for an inning or so, and you need to maximize your assets and get outs quickly. Starters need to change speeds, location, etc to get guys out multiple times.

 

It's entirely probable that he was asked or taught to tone down on the speed a few mph to gain better control (and maybe save his arm). In fact didn't Neugebauer even admit to that fact that he was a better pitcher once he stopped trying to throw 96-98 every time out. (Unfortunately he probably learned it too later to save his arm).

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

What are the probabilities of both panning out and being at the top of our rotation in 5 years?

[TheCrew07]

For me the chances are always slim until a player manages to hit AAA. It's the injury bug more than anything else, we just have to hope he stays healthy and then we'll see.

[pogokat]

i watched the guy hit 97 on a stalker gun about 15 times in his debut...i don't know what was up in WV, but he's got massive speed...

[wvpowerblkwel]

As I said in my original post when I said I didn't see anything over 89 on the stadium gun, it is historically 5-6 mph slow, and he was mixing his pitches extremely well that night....I saw a couple changeups for strikeouts actually at 69, so don't put too much into my 89 mph post...the guy can definitely bring it, but I think he is slowing it down some, not trying to overthrow, finding some control, and learning to pitch here in WV!

 

Edit: Went to the game tonite and Omar Aguilar hit 93 on the stadium gun, and the player charting pitches said it was 98 on the handheld....so, 89 the other nite was probably really 94 or 95.

[colbyjack]

I remember reading that report on Jeffress a year ago from Carlos Gomez, and at the time I was somewhat shocked that somewhat went out of their way to say the things they did in the manner they did after watching the guy via MLB's draft preview video footage. I just can't see how anyone can take those comments seriously.

 

A tip: Go watch the guy in person if you're going to even try to claim to be any kind of professional, or even an amateur, when it comes to such analysis. I saw Jeffress two summers ago and his athleticism and his arm speed was obvious, as there has never been any question by anyone about how or why the young man can throw as hard as he can despite the fact that he is 6' tall.

 

I am able to combine my own observations of Jeffress from the summer after his junior year with a few scouts that have seen him since as well as pogo's first-hand analysis to know that the above comments really can't be taken with any ounce of validity.

 

Also, if the stadium gun at West Virginia is that far off, it should be thrown out, or at least ignored completely. You can't make adjustments on the fly like that to determine what a pitcher is throwing. I've seen this with stadium guns in the past versus stalkers that I was either holding or sitting next to, and the readings are just to inconsistent to try and find a pattern and/or differential.

 

Meaning, 89 could have easily been 94 on one pitch and 99 on another if the readings are that far off.