Henry Sosa

by jbluestone on Jun 11, 2007 4:33 PM EDT Comment 7 comments

I just read up on Henry Sosa over at Baseball america, and I hadnt heard of him before. I checked and he isnt in John's prospect book. Does anyone know anything about him... sounds pretty promising.

Here is a blub of what they said... its free access to that article so I assume I am not breaking any copyright violations

"Sosa's season is nearly incomprehensible. He's not allowed two earned runs in any of his 12 outings and he's not allowed any earned run in seven outings. Righthanders are hitting .109 against him this year. And his stuff is legit: he has a 94-95 mph fastball that has touched 98 this season to go with an improving curveball."

Citation
-Chris Kline, Baseball America
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/hotsheet/264256.html

Thoughts?

0 recs | Comment 7 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

looks legit

59 innings only 28 hits allowed. he has walked 24 though. he turns 22 in a couple months so he isn't old for the level or anything. struck out 57 so far which is solid. he put up good numbers in the azl last year. In 32 innings he struck out 41 walked 12 and gave up only 20 hits.

by kaisertown on Jun 11, 2007 4:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think 21/22...

...in the Sally League may be a tad old

I would personally like to thank Dave Littlefield for banishing the ghost of Scott Kazmir from Shea Stadium.

by uga007 on Jun 11, 2007 4:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He has been a tad lucky

His BABIP is something like .187, though still he's putting up awesome numbers. I don't know his draft history, but I wouldn't get too excited about him until he moves up a level and stays hot.

by t ball on Jun 11, 2007 5:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

BABIP

his BABIP alone doesn't tell you whether he's been lucky or unlucky, it's the BABIP as it related to the Line Drive % that tells you whether he's been lucky or not. Looking only at BABIP and drawing a conclusion is saying that all balls put in play have the same chance of falling in, which is demonstrably untrue

by Jgaztambide on Jun 11, 2007 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eh...

Unlike hitters, pitchers don't have much ability to maintain unusual line drive rates year-to-year, month-to-month, etc. Groundball pitchers will allow fewer line drives because they allow fewer balls in the air overall, but beyond that a pitcher's line drive rate is not really a repeatable skill.

Whether or not you want to call the fluctuation in line drive rates "luck" is another thing, but certainly Sosa seems to be enjoying good fortune with regard to his batted balls. Even if he rarely allowed a line drive, a BABIP under .200 is pretty unsustainable.

by FI on Jun 12, 2007 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs