Archive for drew storen

A little over a month ago, I wandered into the depths of the Baseball Prospectus PITCHf/x leaderboards, looking to see who had the most increased movement on their breaking pitches through the first month of the season compared to last year. As you might imagine, increased movement doesn’t always mean increased success, and so many of the names that turned up were interesting but inconclusive: seeing names like Rick Porcello and Ross Detwiler leading best-of lists tells us that the article was a fun exercise, if not a totally meaningful one.

However, there were a couple of interesting names when it came to right-handed pitchers with increased horizontal movement on their sliders. First, there was Sonny Gray, who is now the proud owner of a top-three slider by run value this year. Then, coming in a close third after Seth Maness, was Drew Storen. Unlike Gray and Maness, Storen has been around for a while, so the prospect of him tinkering with pitches (especially after four mostly successful years), drew some attention.

That attention was, and is, warranted: Storen’s slider (PITCHf/x calls it a slider; some say it’s a cutter. For ease, we’ll go with slider) now has over two inches of greater horizontal movement than last season, and at least one inch more than his previous career-high. Take a look at the horizontal movement change of his slider over his career, courtesy of Brooks Baseball:

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The Arizona Fall League rosters were announced by Major League Baseball last week. The league allows up-and-coming prospects (usually from high-A and double-A levels, as well as recent high draft picks) to continue honing their skills away from the fall instructional leagues held by each organization. Play will begin in early October and run until late November with the six teams – each one made up of five organizations’ players – continually facing each other.

Over the next week, we’ll take a look at some of the more interesting names on each team. The rosters that were recently released are preliminary rosters and some players will be added, while others could be removed. Today, we’re kicking things off with the Phoenix Desert Dogs, a team that has won the AFL championship title for each of the past five seasons. The club is still waiting for the Toronto and Oakland organizations to assign multiple pitchers to the club.

The Phoenix Desert Dogs (Click HERE for the entire roster)
Oakland, Toronto, Baltimore, Washington, Tampa Bay

Brandon Erbe | RHP | Baltimore
Lost behind the big three of Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta in Baltimore, Erbe has the raw stuff to match up with them. Still only 21 years of age, Erbe battled through injuries this year and missed two month of the ’09 season. Even so, he has allowed just 38 hits in 60 innings of work in double-A.

Heath Rollins | RHP | Tampa Bay
Another pitcher who gets lost amongst the “big names,” Rollins has put up some solid pro numbers. He slipped a bit this year in double-A and has been too hittable: 147 hits in 134 innings of work. The right-hander has also lost 2.7 K/9 off of his strikeout rate, although he’s maintained a solid walk rate at 2.23 BB/9. He looks like a middle reliever.

Stephen Strasburg | RHP | Washington
The man everyone wants to see will be making his pro debut with the desert dogs and you can pretty much guarantee that there will be a lot of eyes on his first start. Despite his inexperience, Strasburg could dominate the league… but he’ll also be under a lot of pressure.

Drew Storen | RHP | Washington
The Nationals’ other first-round pick in 2009, Storen has already made 26 appearances in pro ball. Hopefully he won’t see too many innings in the league as he’s already thrown 77.1 innings (college+minors), which is a higher workload than he’s ever had in any other season. His control has been off a bit in eight double-A appearances but Storen is almost MLB ready.

J.P. Arencibia | C | Toronto
Arencibia ended the 2008 season as one of the Jays’ brightest young stars, but things have gone horribly for him in 2009 despite playing in a park (and league) that favors hitters immensely. At fault is Arencibia’s terrible walk rate and hack-tastic approach (2.6 BB% in ’08, 5.3 BB% in ’09), as well as his unwillingness to change. On the plus side, he’s made himself into a very good defensive player, which was a knock against him coming out of college.

Derek Norris | C | Washington
While Arencibia’s star is down, Norris’ is way up. Only 20, he’s shown a nice well-rounded approach with a solid average (.288), good power (23 homers in 423 at-bats, .229 ISO) and a walk rate of 16.1 BB%. The strikeouts are there too (26.8 K%) but the power is a fair trade off. The sky is the limit for Norris, although he may be tired for the AFL after hitting just .169 in August, which is by far his worst month of the year.

Josh Bell | 3B | Baltimore
Acquired earlier this season from the Dodgers, Bell has had a breakout season and could be manning the hot corner for Baltimore everyday by mid-2010. He has a solid understanding of the strike zone, as well as raw power (.250 ISO). Defensively, he has a strong arm, but a slow first step.

Jemile Weeks | 2B | Oakland
Rickie Weeks‘ brother is looking to make a name for himself. The second baseman missed the beginning of the year with an injury but he caught on fire as soon as he was able to take the field. His numbers have been down significantly since a promotion to double-A, but it only spans 72 at-bats. Weeks has yet to utilize his plus speed, but he’s shown more power than expected.

Grant Desme | OF | Oakland
Speaking of power, Desme has made the most of his opportunity to play this year after injuries limited him to just two games in 2008. The former second round draft pick has really opened some eyes by hitting 31 homers and stealing 40 bases between low-A and high-A. The 23-year-old outfielder also swings and misses a lot (30 K%).

Today, as many of you probably already know, is deadline day for Major League Baseball teams attempting to sign 2009 amateur draft picks. Ever since the draft occurred back on June 9-11, clubs have been negotiating with the college and high school players that they selected in the 50-round selection process. Because of MLB’s (ridiculous and ineffective) hard line on exceeding draft-slot signing bonuses, a lot of player signings will be announced today (having effectively cut into their development time line).

However, a number of key players from the first round of the draft signed long before the deadline loomed. It’s always nice to see players excited about beginning their pro careers, with less emphasis placed on money. Let’s have a look and see how some of the early first-round signees are faring in pro ball.

Drew Storen: This right-handed reliever was drafted out of Stanford with the 10th overall pick that Washington received for failing to sign 2008 first-round pick Matt Harringt… er, Aaron Crow. Storen actually signed on draft day and quickly entered the minors. In 24 innings split between low-A and high-A, the reliever allowed 18 hits and just two walks. He also struck out 37 batters. He was recently promoted to double-A, where he’s made three appearances and has allowed just one hit in four shutout innings. Here’s hoping he doesn’t catch the curse of Ryan Wagner… or Craig Hansen… or Joey Devine… or…

Tony Sanchez: The Pirates organization received a lot of flack for selecting the Boston College catcher with the fourth overall pick. He was considered a very good draft prospect, but seemingly no other teams had him positioned that high on their draft boards. The Pirates organization, though, is currently looking pretty good as the club used some of the money it saved by selecting the catcher to signed a number of later round diamonds-in-the-rough to over-slot contracts… and Sanchez is arguably the hottest hitter in the minors right now. The right-handed hitter has a .410 average in his last 10 games, and he has also slammed three homers and driven in 15 runs. Overall in low-A ball, Sanchez is hitting .367/.470/.624 in 109 at-bats.

Randal Grichuk and Mike Trout: The Los Angeles Angels organization had back-to-back selections in the first round of the draft with picks 24 and 25. The club selected two high school outfielders with those selections and both players are currently raking in rookie ball. Grichuk, who has more raw power than Trout, is currently hitting .311/.341/.477 with 12 doubles and seven triples in 193 at-bats. The right-handed hitter has some work to do, though, with a 0.13 BB/k rate and a BABIP of .423. Trout is a more well-rounded player and he’s currently hitting .369/.428/.541 with six doubles and six triples in 122 at-bats. He appears to have a better handle of the strike zone with a walk rate of 10.3 BB% and a strikeout rate of 18.9 K%, but Trout also has an unsustainable BABIP at .449.

Jiovanni Mier: Houston has done a very good job of bungling previous drafts to horrific levels, but the organization seems to be making amends with its last two drafts. Mier was selected out of a California high school with the 21st pick of the draft and has performed better than expected. The raw shortstop is currently hitting .302/.406/.504 with nine steals and 15 extra base hits in 139 at-bats. Scouting reports suggest Mier has average to below-average power, but he’s already hit four homers in rookie ball. He’s also showing an encouraging walk rate of 13.1 BB%.

Other players who signed quickly included: A.J. Pollock (Arizona), Brett Jackson (Chicago NL), Reymond Fuentes (Boston), Tim Wheeler (Colorado), and Jared Mitchell (Chicago AL).