West Virginia Pitching

[foamboy1]

McClendon and Braddock; are these guys projectable prospects?

 

Where do they fit? Will & Yo or Housman & Pena?

[pogokat]

braddock throws in the high 80's, low 90's, so he's got a bit more juice than housman ever did...a lefty who can hit 91 is a very good prospect, so as long as he doesn't lsoe any velocity, he will be fine...probably like a #3 type guy...but maybe better...hope he only misses a couple more starts...

 

we've heard that Mcclendon doesn't throw as hard, so he may be a lot harder to project.

[rotoherb]

It's hard to project much based on just a few months of low A ball, but of the two I would give Braddock the edge because 1) he's left handed and 2) he's pitching well as a 19 year old. The outcome of his current shoulder injury will determine much of what he can do in the future, but his numbers for his age at his level are very good and very promising.

 

McClendon, while it's great that he is pitching so well, is already 22 years old. He's older than Inman and Gallardo and pitching at a lower level. It's not uncommon at all for a college pitcher to pitch very well at the lower levels but not get past AA, so even though I hope he continues to pitch this well, I'd wait until he got to AA before I got my expectations up.

 

I haven't seen either of them pitch, though. Those are just my thoughts based on stats/age/background. Someone who's seen them pitch might offer a completely different outlook.

[homer]

Braddock has the best K/9 in the minors right? That alone gets me pretty fired up about his potential. The bigger question to me is if this arm issue is going to be chronic.

[pogokat]

i think he's missing time in a very similar fashion to will inman sitting out a few starts about this time last year...as long as it's just tendonitis, i'm not concerned...

[foamboy1]

I agree....I think they use minor tweaks and soreness as a means of keeping down the innings pitched.

[wvpowerblkwel]

I think part of what's going on with Zach and maybe even Inman last year, is that these guys are 19yrs old, and I think with Zach, actually reported to Arizona back at the end of January. This is there first season of any constant pressure on their arms, and both he and Inman are strikeout pitchers who throw a lot of pitches.....look at it this way, with 59 strikeouts even if you only 4 pitches per strikeout, your talking 236 pitches....which is two good full outings just with strikes! I would think his arm has to be feeling it! When you consider these guys are held on a pretty strict pitch count early, the guys with gaudy K numbers have to build up the strength that comes with the stress of lots of pitches! Here's hoping the rest does him the same good it did Wil last year!