Author Archive: David Laurila

The Tampa Bay Rays have a deep and talented pitching staff, which extends into their farm system. Of the bunch, Taylor Guerrieri has a chance to be as good as any.

A 20-year-old [as of tomorrow] right-hander, Guerrieri is the team’s top pitching prospect. Drafted 24th overall in 2011, he began his professional career this summer with short-season Hudson Valley and dominated the New York-Penn League. He featured a mid-90s fastball and a plus curveball while he logged a 1.04 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP in 12 starts. In 52 innings, he struck out 45 batters and walked only five.

Guerrieri talked about his pitching approach after the Futures at Fenway doubleheader in mid-August.

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David Laurila: How do get guys out?

Taylor Guerrieri: I just get ahead with the fastball, or really with any pitch. Making sure you stay ahead is the key. To me, it’s get ahead early and get ahead often.

I try to stay true with my pitch sequence. A lot of it, for me, is based on where the guy is set up on the plate. If he’s further in, I’m going to come in. If he’s a little bit away from the plate, I’m going to go away. A lot depends on the batter, but I also have a game plan.

DL: Who dictates your game plan?

TG: It’s basically the manager, pitching coach and myself. It’s about staying ahead with the fastball until they prove they can hit the fastball. I usually don’t show them too much until they show they can hit it. The plan isn’t so much about particular hitters as it is my approach.

DL: You throw your two-seam fastball more than your four-seam. Why?

TG: I grew up throwing a two-seamer. I’m just now learning how to throw a four-seam off the mound and get comfortable with it. That will be a big pitch for me, so I’m looking to progress with it.

I don’t think there’s a lot of difference [in velocity]. It’s more of a placement pitch; more of a set-up pitch. I like to throw a lot of two-seamers and my four helps me set that up.

My two-seam has a little running action and some sinking, as well. It has more run toward the glove side and more sink toward the arm side.

DL: How important is velocity to your game?

TG: It is important. I’m not going to lie. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Hultzen went 1-4, with a 5.92 ERA in 12 starts for Triple-A Tacoma this year. In today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, some people could look at those numbers and discount him as a top prospect. But that would be a mistake.

The Seattle Mariners took the 23-year-old (as of tomorrow) southpaw second-overall in the 2011 draft for a reason: He knows how to pitch. Hultzen logged a 1.19 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 13 Double-A starts before moving up to Tacoma. His Double-A performance is every bit as telling as his Triple-A speed bump. When you finish your first professional season one step from the big leagues, your future is bright.

Hultzen talked about his approach to pitching — and his second-half struggles — near the end of this year’s minor league season.

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David Laurila: How do you get guys out?

Danny Hultzen: My mentality is to keep things simple. I attack the hitter, and by that, I mean coming at him aggressively by throwing everything in the strike zone and not being afraid of anybody. I’ve found that if you keep that aggressive mentality, you have a better shot than if you try to trick people.

DL: Has your approach changed since coming to pro ball?

DH: A little bit. In college, you can rely more on your fastball. You can attack hitters that way. I still do that in pro ball, but at the same time, these guys are really good fastball hitters. It doesn’t really matter how hard you throw, they can turn on it, so it’s more important to hit your spots and keep the ball down. It’s important to mix pitches, because if you become predictable — even if you’re throwing hard — these guys will punish you for it.

DL: Does velocity still matter?

DH: It does, but at the same time, it doesn’t. The harder you throw, the more mistakes you can get away with. But at the higher levels, you don’t get away with as many. I’ve seen guys throw 98 and get turned around. What velocity does is not force you to be as perfect.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bruce Walton understands the Toronto Blue Jays pitching staff as well as anyone. This season was his 16th in the organization and 11th with the big-league club. He served as bullpen coach from 2002-2009 and has been the pitching coach since 2010.

It wasn’t an easy year for the 49-year-old former A’s, Expos and Rockies right-hander. Multiple members of the Jays’ staff went down with injuries, while others — most notably Ricky Romero — struggled. Walton saw his hurlers issue the most walks in the American League and finish with the fourth-worst ERA.

The revamped Torontonians are expected to compete for a pennant next season, but in order for that to happen, the pitchers will need to be healthier and more productive. Part of that responsibility — assuming new manager John Gibbons retains him — will fall on Walton, who talked pitching on a visit to Fenway Park this summer.

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David Laurila: How do pitchers get big-league hitters out?

Bruce Walton: I think it’s a combination of things. The first thing you really have to learn is where down is — where down in the strike zone actually is. Pounding down and pitching at the knees is your best friend. If you stay down with all of your pitches, it’s much easier to get guys out.

DL: Can working up in the zone be effective?

BW: I don’t know if the high strike is where you want to pitch. I think above the strike zone is where you want to pitch when you’re up. Since I’ve been in the big leagues, the high strike is around the belt, and belt-high is a dangerous place.

DL: Is the strike zone too small?

BW: No, it’s not too small. When you’re talking about a small strike zone, it’s more about whether you can manipulate the strike zone by being more efficient, as far as more quality pitches on the edges. The strike zone is the strike zone. It’s neither too small, nor too big.

DL: How does Ricky Romero get guys out?

BW: Ricky gets guys out by working back and forth in the zone, and with late movement. He relies on very good movement at the last possible moment before the ball hits the bat. He’s got tremendous sink and he’s got tremendous cut. He also has the ability to work back and forth in the zone with his changeup.

DL: What is the issue when he’s not getting guys out? Read the rest of this entry »

As many FanGraphs readers know, David Cone is more than a former All-Star pitcher and current color commentator for the New York Yankees. He is also a stat-head. The borderline Hall of Famer — he ranks 50th all-time in pitcher WAR — has shown a willingness to introduce sabermetric concepts to the listening audience. Cone talked about his appreciation for advanced metrics, and his evolution as a pitcher over 17 seasons, during a late-summer visit to Fenway Park.

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David Cone: “I was fairly far along as a pitcher when I started out — that was in 1986, with the Royals — because I had several years in the minor leagues and a couple of years of winter ball. Going to Puerto Rico for two years really helped me as far as my overall command and style. I then evolved more at the big-league level, as far as secondary pitches.

“I really learned how to pitch later in my career, when I lost a little velocity and my skills and my arm speed started to diminish a little bit. I continued to evolve in terms of arm angles and different grips. Early on, I relied more on power. My first few years with the Mets, I was probably more of a thrower than a pitcher. I spent six years with Mets and six with the Yankees, and I’d say that my Yankees years were more my pitching years, and my Mets years were more my strikeout-power years. In between, I had the shorter stints with the Royals — my second time with them — and Blue Jays.

“Early on, I was a fastball-slider guy. I threw a four-seam fastball for the most part. I threw an occasional curve. Later, with the Mets, I developed a splitter. Ron Darling had a good splitter and I watched him. It took me probably three or four years to really develop a good feel for it.

“We didn’t have nearly as much data when I pitched. Read the rest of this entry »

Hector Santiago reads FanGraphs and throws a screwball. The former puts the Chicago White Sox southpaw in the minority among big-league players. The latter makes him quite unique.

A handful of present-day hurlers pull the occasional screwball out of their back pocket, but none feature the pitch. Santiago doesn’t either, but if he wins a job in the starting rotation next season — a distinct possibility — there is a good chance it will become his signature offering.

The 24-year-old New Jersey native worked out of the bullpen in 42 of his 46 appearances this year, which impacted his repertoire. As he explained during a visit to Fenway Park, “It‘s tough to come in for one inning and throw screwballs. As a starter, you have more opportunities to throw it.”

Santiago wants to start, and knows what he needs to do to earn that role. Along with reintroducing more screwballs to his mix, he said he needs to “work on a two-seam fastball, something that is going to sink down out of the zone, so I can get more ground balls.” His GB-rate was 38.2, which he’s well aware of. He hasn’t yet established himself as a starter, but he’s already a stat-savvy screwball artist.

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Santiago on his repertoire and approach: “I basically try to go after hitters and hit my spots. I’m a guy who is mostly on the inner half to right-handers and away to lefties. I try to get it down and in to righties and down and away to lefties, and let them basically get themselves out. How my ball moves is a big part of how I pitch.

“I watch at a lot of video, especially when I’m getting hit, or when I’m missing and think some of the pitches are balls or strikes. I go back and check the k-zone to see how the pitches were moving and where they finished up. That’s especially true on my off-speed. I feel that I can see pretty well on my fastball — where it’s going to go and where it lands — but with my off-speed, sometimes I think it’s a good pitch, just off the plate, and when I go back in, it’s more on the plate than I expected. When I get hurt is when I‘m missing over the middle of the plate. That‘s when they‘ll run into it.

“When I came into pro ball, I was a one-pitch guy. They helped me develop a changeup, and I started to be able to spin a slider in there. I can work in other pitches now. I can throw my changeup for a strike, or out of the zone, I have a cutter now. I can throw my slider early in the count or behind in the count, although it’s still a work in progress. And then there’s my screwball.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Miami Marlins acquired a lot of young talent in last night’s reported multi-player trade with Toronto. The most intriguing prospect heading south is 21-year-old centerfielder Jake Marisnick. Three years into his professional career, he has been more projection than production. The third-round draft pick logged a .719 OPS this season between high-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire. Baseball America and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com rated him the second-best prospect in the Blue Jays system. Marc Hulett is less bullish, slotting him at number six.

Marisnick talked about his strengths and weaknesses late in the New Hampshire Fisher Cats‘ season.

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David Laurila: How would you describe your game?

Jake Marisnick: “I’m a guy who can impact the game in a lot of different ways. I can steal a base to get into scoring position, drive in runs, and make plays in the outfield, maybe by throwing a guy out. I like to look at myself as being a well-rounded player.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Nobody in minor league baseball had a better on-base percentage in 2012 than Mike O’Neill. The 24-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfield prospect had a .458 OBP in 520 plate appearances, which is notable for a pair of reasons: His name doesn’t appear on top-prospect lists and his eye-popping on-base numbers weren’t a fluke.

At the University of Southern California, O’Neill had a .407 OBP. In 2010, with short-season Batavia, the 31^st-round pick got on base at a .393 clip. Last year, playing at two levels, his OBP was .431. In three professional seasons, his slash line is .337/.443/.429 and he has more than twice as many walks [131] as strikeouts [62]. Equating him to Wade Boggs would be hyperbole, but his numbers aren’t dissimilar to what the hall-of-famer put up as an undervalued minor leaguer.

There are reasons for skepticism. The left-handed hitter stands 5-foot-9 and has just one home run in 211 games. Despite above-average speed, he isn’t an accomplished base-stealer. He also has been old for his level, as he spent most of this season with High-A Palm Beach before logging 13 games in Double-A Springfield.

Is O’Neill legit? Only time will tell, but until he stops getting on base at a Boggsian rate, he probably deserves the benefit of a doubt. Arizona Fall League pitchers aren’t among those questioning him. His OBP with the Surprise Saguaros currently stands at .446.

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David Laurila: Why are you a good hitter?

Mike O’Neill: I’d say it’s my demeanor and how I never want to give in. I just don’t want the pitcher to beat me. I’ll do anything under my power to not let that happen. It doesn’t matter what the count is, or what the situation is. I always feel that I have an opportunity to succeed. That mindset creates positive energy for me.

DL: You have a black belt in karate. Does that have an impact on your hitting skills? Read the rest of this entry »

Aaron Sanchez is the top pitching prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system for a reason. That reason is power, as the 20-year-old right-hander features a mid-90s fastball and a sharp-breaking curveball. He also throws an improved changeup, which helped him dominate the Midwest League in his third professional season. The 2010 first-round-supplemental pick logged a 2.49 ERA while striking out 97, and allowing 64 hits, in 90 innings.

Sanchez discussed his game late in the 2012 season.

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Sanchez, on how he’d define his game: “I’d describe myself as a power pitcher. I have a pretty firm fastball with a lot of late life, [including] running-and-sinking action. I have a pretty power curveball, which is kind of a big strikeout pitch for me. When I get ahead, I tend to break that out and I get a lot of Ks with it. Based on those things, I think you’d call me a power pitcher.

“I’m not afraid of contact. I’m not afraid of early contact or one-pitch outs, because that’s key for guys on pitch counts. The quicker you get outs, the longer you get to stay in the game. But when I’m ahead in the count and have the opportunity to strike someone out, that’s my mindset.

“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m pushing toward more contact. It’s more that I’m not afraid of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Dustin Pedroia is among the best defensive second baseman in the game. In 2011, he won his second Gold Glove and his first Fielding Bible Gold Glove. This year he narrowly missed capturing both honors again. The 29-year-old Red Sox stalwart led American League second basemen in fielding percentage and had 11 Defensive Runs Saved. Last year, he had 18.

Twice the National Defensive Player of the Year while playing shortstop at Arizona State, Pedroia switched positions in 2005 when he was in Double-A. With the exception of 74 games at his old position the following year, he hasn’t looked back. Nor has he booted many ground balls, as he has averaged fewer than six errors per season as a professional.

Pedroia talked about infield defense — including his move from shortstop to second base — in the final week of the regular season.

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David Laurila: What is the key to being a good defensive second baseman?

Dustin Pedroia: There are a lot of really good ones in the league, and everyone has their own way, but positioning is big. If you put yourself in a good spot…. It depends on who’s up and it depends on what our pitcher is throwing.

I actually put a lot of pressure on our pitchers making their pitch. If they call a fastball away to a left-handed hitter and, before the pitch comes, I take a half step to my right and he leaves it over the middle and the hitter pulls it… that’s just a risk that I take. But if he hits his spot and the hitter hits the ball up the middle, and I get there by that extra small step, that could be the difference between winning and losing the game.

I remember my first year, when [Curt] Schilling was pitching. Read the rest of this entry »

The moods in the respective clubhouses were predictably different after last night’s game. Here are what eight players — three San Francisco Giants and five Detroit Tigers — had to say about the 2012 World Series:

Prince Fielder: “It’s definitely unfortunate that we lost, but we did everything that we could. We played hard. You can’t try harder. We battled, it just didn’t work out. Good pitching does that at times. We had some good at bats, it’s just that they made good pitches when they had to.”

Jeremy Affeldt: “I think this has been as good as you can ask for. This is a situation for Bochy and for Rags, and Sabes as a GM, where they should be very happy with how the starters have thrown. This is what good starters do in the playoffs.

“You can build an offense all you want — you can put up guys who can score 10 runs — but if you give up 11, you lose. You’ve got to have good pitching to go to the World Series”

Read the rest of this entry »