Hey guys, Tom here. After breaking down the first round last night for you I’m going to give way to our resident mechanics expert Aaron Bentley. He’s going to go pick by pick through the top pitchers taken in the first round. So without further introduction, here is Aaron’s Round One Pitching Breakdown.
The big knock on Taillon, delivery-wise, has been that he rushes through it. This is a very legitimate concern. It has been a bit of a red flag for Taillon that he’s a high school pitcher sitting in the mid-to-high 90s and is still occasionally getting hit hard. The problem is that when he rushes, his command goes. His fastball flattens out and both his fastball and 83-87 slider finish up. Obviously, the Pirates think it will be easy enough to iron out that they took him 2nd overall. Taillon is strong in his lower half so if Pittsburgh can work out his top half concerns and teach him a changeup, they could have a #1 on their hands.
5. Indians – Drew Pomeranz LHP Mississippi
Pomeranz is the opposite Taillon. Pomeranz has a very smooth delivery, transfers his weight well, and gets decent drive to the plate. He could get on his drive foot a little earlier but it’s not something that drives me crazy. The oddest part of Pomeranz’s delivery his his arm action. He brings his pitching arm straight back, shows the ball to the centerfielder, and then almost cups the ball as he brings his arm toward home plate in a kind of a sweeping action. Pomeranz has two plus pitches but he only has two pitches. He’s throw a handful of changeups and is going to have to develop that pitch to be a top starter in the majors.
6. Diamondbacks – Barrett Loux RHP Texas A&M
Loux doesn’t excite me at all but I suppose that’s not the point of this article. Loux’s delivery is clean but there are a lot of little oddities to it. The delivery isn’t deceptive and doesn’t do a lot to help Loux. He has a shimmy with his leg at the top of his delivery that slows his momentum and is followed by a stride that needs to be longer. His mechanics don’t show him to be any sort of an elevated injury risk. Even though I’m mostly talking mechanics here, I have to say that Loux’s secondary stuff is just not as advanced as it should be for a college pitcher. It will be interesting to see if Loux can make it as a starter at all.
7. Mets – Matt Harvey RHP North Carolina
I really like the first half of Matt Harvey’s delivery. It is nice and paced and clean. His arm action is very nice as well. The problem is really just how strangely he lands. He lands on his front foot stiffly and all of his momentum just kind of dies. It’s like he throws everything he has straight into the ground and doesn’t carry it with him to home plate. This leads to a lot of concerns. It can cause command problems and put a lot of stress on the arm as the legs aren’t carrying enough of the load.
9. Padres – Karsten Whitson RHP Chipley HS, Florida
Thomas was right in his Draft Night Live Blog that Whitson has solid mechanics. I see two things that I would want to improve if I were in player development for the Padres. First, his landing is a bit stiff. He drives down into the ground instead of toward the plate. It’s not nearly as bad as what Harvey shows but Whitson could do himself a favor if he would drive toward the plate. Second, his arm action isn’t smooth. He stops it in back before bringing it through. Anytime you get your arm going at the speed necessary to throw 90+ MPH and you stop it suddenly, you are putting undue stress on your arm. Usually this is seen at the end of a follow through, but it’s no less of a problem when it shows itself in this part of the delivery.
I don’t really have any problems with McGuire’s mechanics on the whole. There is some talk about his hip rotation but what I’ve seen of him has been just fine. I really like McGuire’s delivery; I just wish he didn’t fall off the mound toward first the way he does. That probably has something to do with the flatness of his secondary pitches. He’ll need some development but McGuire will be ahead of the curve because of he is strong mechanically.
13. White Sox – Chris Sale LHP Florida Gulf Coast U
Sale is the first pitcher in the draft on whom Thomas and I fundamentally disagree. Sale is a 6’6″, 180 lb guy who’s arm slot doesn’t let him take advantage of that height. His slot is closer to sidearm than 3/4 and that slot hurts his capability of throwing a good slider. Thomas likes his slider but I don’t see it as a major league pitch, at least not from his sidearm delivery. The other thing that bothers me about Sale is that he strides toward first and then throws back across his body. As Kerry Wood taught the world, this can lead to problems. I see Sale as a reliever, but if his stuff survived a few mechanical tweaks, he does have the upside that Thomas mentioned.
14. Brewers – Dylan Covey RHP Maranatha HS, California
I have almost nothing negative to say about Dylan Covey. His delivery is a thing of beauty, in my opinion. I wonder if sometimes he drives his plant foot a little too forcefully into the ground but if that’s the biggest concern with a high school kid’s mechanics, things are going well for him. Covey is one of my favorite players in the draft, with four pitches that have at least average potential. He has a plus fastball and projects to have a plus curveball to go along with enough of a slider and change to keep hitters honest. He’ll probably drop that slider in the minors and work on refining his change and mastering the curve. Still, there is a lot to like.
16. Cubs – Hayden Simpson RHP So. Arkansas U
While there were a lot of questionable picks in the first round, I’m not sure if any were more questionable than the Cubs pick at #16. Simpson has had great results but those results are against Division II competition. Looking at Simpson’s mechanics, there are a few things that give me pause. The first thing is that he leans back at the top of his delivery before driving to home plate. This seems to rob some of Simpson’s momentum away. Second, he doesn’t have a very fluid arm action and the stopping and going can wreak havoc on an arm. Lastly, he lands just slightly toward third base, causing him to throw a little bit back across his body. However, I don’t think Simpson’s mechanics is the biggest thing that will bar his entry to the majors – it’s not clear that his stuff is enough to have anywhere near the impact a team would hope to get out of a first round pick.
19. Astros – Mike Foltynewicz RHP Minooka Comm. HS Illinois
Folty is a guy I like quite a bit. He already looks like a pitcher and still has a lot of projection left in him. As Thomas mentioned in his Draft Live Blog, Folty has a plus changeup already. That is a beautiful thing. I do have two concerns with his mechanics, however. The first is a slight problem that is easily fixable. He seems to open up his hips a bit early during his stride. This could be causing some of the command problems we’ve seen from him. The other worry I have is where Folty’s arm comes through in his delivery. It’s a little bit of a slot problem but it’s also that he brings his pitching arm through very low and close to his body. I would prefer to see him get that arm up and out.
21. Twins – Alex Wimmers RHP Ohio State
Wimmers doesn’t have much upside but he is another favorite of mine in this class. He is very polished and has a very high floor. Wimmers has a strong, clean delivery. My only concern with it is that he speeds up a little bit at about the halfway point. As he gathers and begins the drive to home plate, he has the tendency to rush. This hasn’t caused results problems so it’s mostly nothing to worry about. However, it could lead to command problems and/or injury so it’s something to tweak if the Twins organization is comfortable doing so.
27. Phillies – Jesse Biddle LHP Germantown Friends HS Pennsylvania
Biddle was another surprise in this draft, going much higher that most had him ranked. Breaking Biddle down, you can see both why he wasn’t ranked terribly highly and why a team might be willing to take a risk on him this early in the draft. Biddle is a big, projectable lefty. There aren’t a lot of 6’6 lefties with a lot of projection out there. That being said, Biddle is very, very raw. The pace to his delivery is extremely uneven and needs a lot of work. He tends to start his motion with his arm instead of letting his hips and legs drive it. You don’t need me to tell you that throwing 92 is alarming when it’s all arm. With a lot of refinement, Biddle could be a player to watch.
28. Dodgers – Zach Lee RHP McKinney HS Texas
If the Dodgers can sign Lee, they may have staged a coup. My colleague Thomas thinks the Dodgers aren’t terribly concerned with signing him, considering their financial woes at present. Unfortunately, it’s probably going to take a lot to get Lee off a commitment to play quarterback at LSU in the fall. Lee has a fantastic delivery. Everything is paced well and he gets a lot of drive toward home plate. If anything, Lee drops a little low at the beginning of his drive, giving up the advantages of his 6’4″ frame and pushing his pitches a little low. For a guy who’s good enough at another sport to play high Division 1, Lee is very polished. If Lee were to decide on baseball, he wouldn’t last 27 picks in three years.
29. Angels – Cam Bedrosian RHP East Coweta HS Georgia
I think I like Bedrosian slightly more than Thomas does. He has a lot of effort in his delivery but I’m not sure that it’s maximum effort. He gets his foot down on time and generates a lot of torque from a drop and drive motion that is saving stress on his arm anyway. The biggest concern is that he only has two pitches. The curve is an above average offering but some scouts wonder if he’s gone to the breaking ball too much for his age. Personally, I think that curve is going to get eaten up in pro ball because his delivery makes it obvious when it is coming instead of the fastball. I don’t think he’s definitely a reliever but it will take some work to keep him in a rotation. The upside if he did make it as a starter is what makes me like little Bedrock quite a bit.
George Utter
Jun 10. 2010
I like the Dylan Covey pick by the Brewers. I’ve been keeping my eye on the kid since he struck out 18 players from the Kansas City Royals Scout team 2 years ago at the Perfect Game World Wood Bat Championships. The Brewers don’t have a lot of success drafting pitchers in the 1st round, but I think this could work out for them. As you said Aaron, he does have 3 serviceable pitches, but I think the 96 mph fastball could get to 98 in the majors. His breaking ball is crisp, topping out at about 82 mph. This is a great kid, hes very polite, eager to learn, and has great work ethics. Whatever he may lack in natural talent, I think he can make up in desire.
Great write up as usual my friend.
Patrick Trotter
Jun 10. 2010
Very nice breakdown, Aaron.