Trevor Bauer (Photo: IBI)
2014 IBI Positional Rankings: The Right-handed Starters
By Tony Lastoria
April 7, 2014
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Today we move on to the right-handed starting pitchers in our annual IBI positional rankings. So far we have ranked the following positions:
First base
Second base
Shortstop
Third base
Catcher
Left Field
Center Field
Right Field
It is no secret that the Indians have really struggled to draft and develop good starting pitching over the past two decades or so. While they have produced a good amount of bats over the years and the strength of the system currently is their bats, they have just not been able to get things to go right on the pitching front. There have been a lot of misses in the draft, and when they seem to get it right they trade the player (Chris Archer) or the pitcher gets hurt (Adam Miller). Things look to be on the up as they have a good mixture of interesting upper level right-handed starters worth keeping an eye on as well as several high upside young, raw arms in the lower levels of the system.
Note, several of these players have much more detailed scouting reports in the recently completed IBI Top 50. Also, full scouting reports for all players will be in the new book (more on this later this week).
Here are the right-handed starting pitchers…
1. Trevor Bauer
Born: 01/17/1991 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 190 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Bauer was acquired by the Indians in a nine-player trade with the Diamondbacks in December of 2012. The Diamondbacks originally selected him in the 1st round of the 2011 Draft out of UCLA, and signed him to a $3.4 million signing bonus and gave him a four year $4.5 million Major League contract. He is a smaller framed pitcher with a slight build who has a great feel for his pitches, has great athleticism and he really gets a lot out of power out of his delivery. He has a deep arsenal of pitches led by a 91-95 MPH fastball that has been up to 98 MPH though the command is only average. His plus-plus 12-6 curveball is a devastating pitch and the best pitch in his arsenal and also has an above average slider, a good feel for an average changeup, and a splitter that he mixes in though is inconsistent and the least effective pitch in his arsenal. He has a high effort delivery with exaggerated mechanics and a loose arm where he generates a lot of torque and a ton of momentum with his entire body to bring power to his stuff. His main focus is finding a way to get his command under control because if it keeps up it is going to not only continue to affect his performance but start to chip away at his strong psyche and frustration could settle in. He is still an important piece of the big league puzzle, but until that fastball command comes and the delivery is shored up, he does not fit in the big league picture.
2. Cody Anderson
Born: 09/14/1990 - Height: 6’4” - Weight: 220 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Anderson was selected in the 14th round of the 2011 Draft out of Feather River College (CA). He is a projectable starting pitching prospect who has durability and the ability to haul innings thanks to a good, low maintenance delivery, athleticism and a big, strong, physical frame. He has a lot of brute strength with a power arsenal that can overpower hitters, and combined with his ability to be durable and log innings it makes him very valuable. He has very good strength with a plus fastball that comes in at 91-94 MPH and flashes 96 MPH. His go-to offering and best pitch in his arsenal is a modified slider that was converted into a cutter in his pro debut, and has become a legit Major League weapon that has good late movement and gets a good amount of swing and miss. His fringy curveball has potential and he has made some strides with the development of his below average changeup. He has the makeup along the lines of a Josh Tomlin where he is extremely tough, extremely committed, and really wants to be in baseball. His focus this season will just continue to be on developing his game experience since he has only been pitching for a short period of time. He is still working to develop a better feel for pitching by becoming more a pitcher and less a thrower by thinking a little more on the mound and pitching on a five day routine. He is still raw on the mound, but is making significant strides in his development and has the complete package with the stuff, arm, body, and frame to be a good middle of the rotation Major League starting pitcher – maybe more.
Born: 04/06/1992 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 215 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Baker was selected by the Indians in the 5th round of the 2012 Draft out of Western Nevada Community College, and signed for $235,600. He is a big, strong pitcher features a good fastball that has shown significant velocity gains the last two years and at the end of the season he was at 93-97 MPH and averaging 94 MPH. Both his slurvy slider and curveball are two very good breaking balls in the making as they have the chance to be plus offerings for him down the road. The slider is a true out pitch as he gets good swing and miss with it because of its good, late biting action and side to side movement as it explodes through the zone. The curveball is hard sitting at 82-83 MPH with good downward action. He shows a feel for his developing changeup and is a work in progress. He maintains his stuff well and when he is able to consistently pound the zone he can get a lot of groundouts, and with his live arm and electric stuff he can miss a good amount of bats. The key for him will continue to be his fastball command. He has a live arm and the secondary stuff has upside, but in order to have more success in the upper levels he is going to need to take a step forward with his command this season. With his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark, limit damage when he gets in trouble, the stuff to put away hitters, and the endurance to log a high amount of innings, those are all of the qualities the Indians look for in a starting pitching prospect.
4. Adam Plutko
Born: 10/3/1991 – Height: 6’3” – Weight: 195 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Plutko was selected in the 11th round of the 2013 Draft out of UCLA. He has a big track record coming out of college and is a polished arm that should be able to move through the system pretty quickly. He has average stuff across the board with four solid average pitches that he commands well and uses really effectively to change speeds, change eye levels and locate. His average fastball sits at 88-90 MPH and flashes 92 MPH, but what really sets him apart is his ability to command and locate it to every part of the strike zone and not being afraid to attack hitters with it. With the way he commands his fastball low in the zone he is able to induce a lot of weak contact and get quick outs. He has a really good changeup that at times flashes plus, and also throws a curveball and slider that are average offerings. The Indians like the low effort he has in his delivery and believe that if they can get him a little stronger and generate more momentum in his delivery that he might see an uptick in the quality of his stuff across the board. He was a performer in college the last three years and had unbelievable consistency, and if he can carry that consistent success over to the professional ranks then the Indians have themselves a pitcher who could pitch for them in the middle to back of the starting rotation in Cleveland for a long time.
Born: 04/13/1994 – Height: 6’1” – Weight: 195 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Brown was selected in the 2nd round of the 2012 Draft out of Rochester Century High School (MN), and signed for $639,700. He is a big, strong pitcher with a good frame and good delivery with some smooth mechanics and really good arm action. His fastball is an easy 91-94 MPH and can reach back for up to 96 MPH, and just jumps out of his hand with good life and movement to it which helps him get a good amount of swing and miss. He has two different breaking balls, an upper-70s curveball and hard biting low-80s slider that are both inconsistent but flash plus. He also mixes in an upper-80s cutter and shows a decent feel for a developing changeup. He has a very good makeup and is beyond his years with his good knowledge of pitching, knowledge of himself, his work ethic in the weight room and on the field, and ability to make adjustments quickly. One of the big things he is learning is his pitch sequencing and how to pitch. This involves things such as knowing when to throw certain pitches in certain counts and reading hitter’s swings and can only come with experience pitching at the professional level. He no doubt has an interesting mix of pitches and has tons of projection and upside as a young pitcher, so hopefully with a full offseason to get healthy he is ready to shine this year.
Born: 03/06/1992 – Height: 6’4” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Kime was selected in the 3rd round of the 2013 Draft out of the University of Louisville, and signed for $525,000. He is a big, tall, lanky pitcher that has some athleticism and a lot of projection in his frame. He uses his long frame to produce good downhill action on his arsenal of pitches and gets a good amount of groundballs as a result. He features a lively solid average fastball that sits at 90-93 MPH and will occasionally run it up to 95 MPH. He shows a good feel to spin his hard, overhand solid average curveball, a pitch that has been his primary secondary offering for some time until the addition of a slider into his pitch mix last season. The emergence of his slider significantly played up his stuff and became a separator for him as it progressed rapidly over the 2013 season and now has the potential to be a plus pitch for him. He also shows a feel for a developing changeup, though is only occasionally mixed in with his other pitches because it lacks consistency. He is a risky college arm seeing that he has such limited time as a starter in his college career, so the Indians are working on some adjustments with his delivery to put him into a good position, and while they expect some bumps along the way with his performance, the changes should help him have more long term success and durability as a starter. He brings some uncertainty because it is not known if he can last as a starting pitcher, but the Indians are going to give him every opportunity to develop as one.
Born: 09/25/1993 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 210 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Hamrick was selected in the 8th round of the 2012 Draft out of Cedar Hill High School (TX), and signed for $180,000. He is a powerful and athletic pitcher who has a strong, sturdy frame and is physically mature for his age. His fastball sits at 89-92 MPH and touches 93 MPH, and has good life to it and he really pounds the zone with it. His best secondary offering is a slider that he shows a good feel for and has the makings of being a plus offering for him. He has a developing split-finger changeup that he mixes in and has some projection to it, but it is a below average offering and needs a lot of work. He has a good delivery and arm action along with a thick lower half that he utilizes well in his delivery, and just shows good command of all of his pitches. He is focusing on his overall consistency, which involves his delivery, command and stuff. He has starter innings in him and just continues to make strides, and after his good season last year he has no doubt improved his status as a pitching prospect for the Indians.
Born: 02/18/1990 - Height: 6’0” - Weight: 167 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Colon was selected in the 12th round of the 2009 Draft out of Huertas Junior College in Puerto Rico. He is a mature pitcher with a strong frame and good body that is about 30-50 pounds larger than his outdated bio suggests. He is a big time groundball pitcher with a fastball that sits at 90-93 MPH and has been up to 97 MPH with good run and sink. He has a good feel for his changeup and has made some good strides with it, though it is still a work in progress and needs more consistency to be an average major league offering. His curveball is a pitch he is still developing and has the potential to be a solid average pitch for him at the Major League level. Colon is still learning the nuances of pitching since he is a converted third baseman who has only been pitching for a few years, but has the potential to be a good back of the rotation starter – maybe even more - who has a good feel for the baseball and most importantly can eat innings.
9. Kieran Lovegrove
Born: 07/28/1994 – Height: 6’4” – Weight: 185 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Lovegrove was selected in the 3rd round of the 2012 Draft out of Mission Viejo High School (CA), and signed for $432,700. He has some interesting stuff and has a very projectable body with a loose, athletic frame that is far from maxed out. His plus fastball sits at 90-93 MPH and was up to 97 MPH last season, and shows good sink and late life. His best secondary offering is a low-80s slider that has the potential to be an average offering for him. He also throws a developing changeup which has the makings to be an average pitch, and he also mixes in an occasional curveball. He as a nice, compact delivery with good size which projects him well as a durable innings eating starter down the road. The big thing he is working through right now is being more consistent with his delivery and handling the mental aspect of pitching. The Indians believe there is a starting pitching arm at the major league level somewhere in there as there is a lot of projection with his stuff, delivery and frame to be a durable starting pitcher for a long time.
10. Casey Shane
Born: 8/23/1995 – Height: 6’4” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
The Indians selected Shane in the 6th round of the 2013 Draft out of Centennial High School (TX), and signed him for $150,000. Heis a big, strong, sinker-slider pitcher that piles up lots of groundballs and has a chance to be a prototypical groundball innings eater middle of the rotation starter in a rotation. He throws a very heavy plus fastball that is 88-93 MPH and has been up to 94 MPH with very good sink to it. He also throws a slurvy slider that has good bite and swing and miss potential and shows a feel for a changeup. He has a good delivery and frame which helps him throw from a good downward plane, and he throws strikes and has the size and strength to haul innings. His main focus right now is not necessarily on whether his command is good or he strikes people out, but about learning proper nutrition and the way to treat his body the best he can so that he can pitch every five days. He has great stuff and a solid delivery and if he really builds that foundation and gets comfortable in a professional environment then a lot of his untapped talent could surface.
Born: 08/17/1990 – Height: 6’5” – 195 – Bats: Left – Throws: Right
Roberts was selected in the 5th round of the 2011 Draft out of the University of Virginia, and signed for $150,000. He will not wow you with his stuff on the mound as he relies more on his exceptional aptitude, plus pitch ability and an ability to command and locate his fastball. He features an 88-93 MPH fastball that touched 95 MPH in 2013, and has an average 84-86 MPH slider, developing 77-79 MPH curveball and fringy changeup. He is an intelligent pitcher who handles pressure situations well, has proven to be very durable and can haul innings. He has a lot of the intangibles with the intelligence, strength, size, durability and delivery to be a good starting pitcher, but now he needs to put it all together by improving the quality of his stuff and showing more confidence in using his entire arsenal in order to solidify his status as a Major League starting pitching option.
12. Jordan Milbrath
Born: 08/01/1991 – Height: 6’6” – Weight: 215 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Milbrath was selected by the Indians in the 35th round of the 2013 Draft out of Augustana College (SD), and signed for $100,000. He is a very raw pitcher but is big and strong with arm strength that brings some upside to him. He is very tall with a large frame that helps him get good leverage to his pitches. He features a 91-94 MPH fastball that flashes 95 MPH, and has good life to his fastball, shows an ability to locate it, and potentially has some untapped velocity left in his arm. He has a developing curveball with a chance to be average in the future and has a feel for a changeup. The big issue with him is that he is already 22 years old and is still very unrefined, so it will make it hard to be patient with him and develop him as a starter. But if everything comes together quickly, the Indians believe they have a legit starting pitching option with some good upside.
13. Cole Sulser
Born: 03/12/1990 – Height: 6’0” – Weight: 190 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Sulser was selected in the 25th round of the 2013 Draft out of Dartmouth College and left the school second all-time in wins (20). He is a low projection guy, but is a pretty polished pitcher who knows how to pitch. He locates his 89-93 MPH fastball very well to both sides of the plate and has good pitch ability, and because of how well he locates his fastball in the strike zone it helps play up his secondary offerings and keep hitters off balance. He has a solid mix of secondary offerings with a curveball, slider and changeup, and commands them all well though none of them are considered to have plus potential. Due to his age his opportunities will be limited and he will need to perform at a near elite level to get those opportunities.
14. Robbie Aviles
Born: 12/17/1991 – Height: 6’4” – Weight: 200 – Bats: Left – Throws: Right
Aviles was selected in the 7th round of the 2010 Draft out of Suffern High School (NY), and signed for $150,000. He has a nice, loose arm where the ball comes out of his hand very well, and his size allows him to get good two plane action on his pitches. He features a 90-92 MPH four-seam fastball that has been up to 95 MPH, and is the best pitch in his arsenal because of the confidence he has in it. He mixes in an average 78-80 MPH slurvy curveball that is still developing but when he is on with it flashes some good 11-5 break and tight downward action. He shows a feel for a developing changeup that is a below average offering and a work in progress, though has a chance to be an average offering for him. Even though he gets a good amount of groundballs, without the stuff to put hitters away and get more swing and miss it is going to limit his chances for success as he moves up in the system. Even though he struggled with the consistency in his performance last season and his numbers were poor, the ability to get a groundball along with his size and strength still makes him an intriguing prospect for the Indians.
15. Michael Peoples
Born: 09/05/1991 – Height: 6’5” – Weight: 195 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right
Peoples was selected in the 14th round of the 2012 Draft out of Western Oklahoma State. He is a big, projectable right-handed pitcher with a good frame and good feel to pitch. While he does not have over-the-top electric stuff he has multiple pitches, a loose arm, some arm strength and mixes his pitches well. He features a 90-93 MPH fastball that touches 94 MPH, and does a good job of getting some sink with it and creates a lot of angle with it. He also mixes in a curveball, changeup, and cutter, showing a good feel and some upside with all of them. He is focusing on his pitching by working through some command issues, getting ahead of batters, throwing all his pitches for strikes, and working the bottom third of the strike zone. He brings some intrigue with his size and some upside, but he needs to be more consistent and also show some durability to push himself into a more serious standing as a pitching prospect for the Indians.
Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.
