7th major league season
6'2" 215 pounds
Bats R/Throws R
The Good: He's a knuckleballer. He has a 2.23 ERA in AAA this year for Buffalo in over 60 innings. He has a great strike-out to walk rate (4.5 K/BB). Retired 27 hitters in a row one game this year, after allowing a lead-off single. Throws an 84 mph fastball 25% of the time, and his knuckleball is around 74 mph (10+ mph harder than most knuckleballs). He also occasionally throws a change-up. He throws a lot of strikes.
The Bad: He's a knuckleballer. He turned into primarily a knuckleball pitcher in 2005. His lowest ERA was last year with the Twins where he was mainly a reliever, appearing in 35 games and had a 4.62 ERA. He was born without an Ulnar Collateral Ligament (the ligament replaced in Tommy John Surgery).
Role: Primarily an insurance policy this spring training, but he has pitched great for Buffalo and is getting a spot start for Oliver Perez, and may stick around depending on his effectiveness/injuries (Niese). Can wind up saving the bullpen if he is effective, as he can throw almost every day (Unlike F Nieve).
Here is a video I took of him in Spring Training. Sorry for the shakiness. (Also try to view the video as a "pop-out, or view full screen" Some web browsers cut off the right side of the video. I'm trying to find a solution to this problem)
No comments:
Post a Comment