Quad Cities Relief Pitchers: July 29 – 31
Posted on August 6th, 2011 by azruavatar in Scouting Reports, tags: Aidan Lucas, Angel De Jesus, Drew Benes, Iden NazarioYesterday’s report was much more positive than today’s.
Angel de Jesus
Very tall and lanky. Listed at 6′ 6″ and looks the part. Mediocre velocity on fastball. Loses mechanics easily. Command was shaky at best.
Aidan Lucas
Velocity in the low 90s. Has some unusual mechanics that includes his hand snapping back at the top of his motion. Very odd. Control was good not great. Might project for middle relief in the majors.
Drew Benes
Fastball 88-91mph. Very straight forward motion with little deception. Fastball stays low in the zone. Good defense behind him.
Iden Nazario
Left handed reliever. Fastball sat 86-88 but never touched 90mph. Good deception. Slider works well on lefties. Outside shot to be a LOOGy.
I left after Boone Whiting’s start was completed on Sunday so I didn’t see Dean Kiekhefer pitch. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the relievers I saw. Lots of guys sitting right around 90mph. There wasn’t an arm that stood out among the four that I saw.
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Ironically, Kiekhefer is apparently the best of this bunch, which is not to say he necessarily has a major-league future. Terrific WHIP, K/BB, etc., the only clear knock is that he’s not very big and sturdy. Was there any intel on what he throws, like you got on Copeland?
yes, i too was most interested in Kiekhefer. That 0.74 WHIP and 67% GB rate are intriguing to say the least.
while this is disappointing, it’s hardly a shock or even a matter of concern. the club has been very aggressively putting virtually any talented pitcher in the low minors in the rotation, even if the general consensus has been that the pitcher has a future in relief. i can’t really think of any serious pitching prospects who have entered the low minors in an exclusively relief role (excluding swagerty who is in relief to limit his innings). if scott bittle had stayed healthy, he’d have been the only real relief-only pitching prospect in the low minors. it makes sense then that the relievers at QC would mostly be org depth.
the most interesting reliever at QC this year was justin wright, who was recently promoted.
Prior to his injury, the Cards said at draft time that they would track Bittle as a starter. Corpas (pre-injury) was a strong relief only prospect. It remains to be seen if he can come back.
really? i did not hear the line on bittle. wow. if bittle was going to start, pretty much any talented pitching prospect is going to start.
Wasn’t Bittle shut down here recently? Or, was he released?
Released, I believe. :-( He just never got it back post-injury.
I have to agree with Tom S. here. STL isn’t going to have any shortage of relievers, and I too thought that any relievers that make it completely through the minors as relievers are gravy so to speak.