CBRACKE
Loading ...
There is no bigger story today than the major league debut of Diamondbacks pitching prospect Max Scherzer last night.
Facing the Astros, Scherzer struck out seven in 4.1 perfect relief innings. The flame-throwing righty barely made it back to the locker room before fans called local sports radio shows to demand their very own Maximus be thrust into the starting rotation as soon as possible.
Ask and you shall receive.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Manager Bob Melvin announced that the young phenom will start Monday’s game against the Phillies in Philadelphia. “He doesn’t have to be a five-pitch guy,” Melvin told the Arizona Republic. “He’s one of those few guys who can get by just on his fastball. But as a hitter, you can’t just sit on that. He has a real easy delivery, and that adds to the ball getting on you quicker than you expect, especially the first time you see him.”
There is no disputing his ability, as he ranked as the Diamondbacks fourth best prospect in Baseball America’s preseason top 10’s, and that is with outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and pitcher Brett Anderson ahead of him (both were dealt to Oakland shortly after the D-backs top 10 posted). His biggest asset is a sinking fastball that broke one bat on Tuesday and clearly overpowered every hitter he faced. Despite his manager’s assertion that all he needs is one pitch, it would seem necessary for him to develop his other pitches in order to remain in the rotation. He’s done just that, with Melvin admitting that his off-speed pitches had “more shape” to them yesterday.
Where there is some confusion is that Melvin insists he has an easy delivery, but a handful of minor league scouts that Baseball America talked to claim he has a violent head jerk at the end of his pitching motion that could cause problems. Then they refute that warning sign to a certain extent by mentioning his competitiveness, athleticism, and strong frame among his strengths. If you weigh all of this out I strongly believe Max is someone you should take an aggressive approach towards buying. That means for those owners in deep mixed leagues with plenty of your free-agent bidding dollars left should consider him one of the most sought assets you’ll see this season. It seems highly improbable that he’ll lose his rotation spot once given the opportunity and he could be a bigger difference maker than ANY player who started the season on top prospects lists.
No Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>