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pitching prospects poll- what we like most about them

hey guys, i was talking with some of my league mates about pitching prospects and we started discussing what type of pitching traits/characteristics jump out at us when we look at prospects. obviously an all-around package is ideal like david price. but what about the hundreds of other pitchers? when you have a farm draft, what makes you pick one pitcher over another when they seem almost identical? basically what's your pitching prospect fettish?

Poll
what's your pitching prospect fettish?
slider/curevball
8 votes
change up
10 votes
command
34 votes
projection
26 votes
intelligence
5 votes
maturity
1 votes
work ethic
1 votes
fastball
32 votes

117 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 12 comments

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It Varies
Age and level make a big difference. The younger the prospect and the lower his level, the more important the pure stuff and projectability. As the prospect gets older and climbs the ladder, the skills carry more weight. If I had to pick one thing, it would be command. More specifically K:BB ratio. Really, I'm looking for the best balance of all that stuff.

by rwperu34 on Jan 16, 2008 7:10 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Fastball
Not saying the other factors aren't important too, but to be a top pitching prospect, you gotta bring the heat.

by DrBGiantsfan on Jan 16, 2008 8:34 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I would actually
vote for an option that isn't there: Results.
Manny Parra is my favorite pitcher.

by PujolsJunkie on Jan 16, 2008 9:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

+1
If you don't put up the numbers and you're not damn young for your level, there's something wrong.  This applies even moreso to hitters.
When asked why I was a Mets fan, I responded, "pain is my lifeblood."

by wrightHOF on Jan 16, 2008 5:22 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Rather have the brains...
A pitcher that can only throw 85 and has average command, but can fool a hitter with pitch selection and locations is more of a big deal.  
In current player speak, my fav. would be a mold of Chris Young.  Not overpowering, but smarter than the hitter.

by team name deleted on Jan 16, 2008 10:17 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

other
knuckleball!

by jpahk on Jan 16, 2008 10:33 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

not stuff
when i'm "scouting" (i.e. reading reports/articles while i eat cheetoes in my boxers), i actually do look for coaches' praise of the non-statistical intangibles. If he's a prospect being talked about, chances are he's got potential from his stuff; but for some reason i enjoy reading that a very young pitching prospect is more mature than his age. Obviously this is a very flawed notion. I'd imagine in, say, Don Zimmer's eyes, an asparagus has "poise" and is "mature," but for some reason I sometimes gravitate to that. And now that I think about it, I wish I didn't.

by waka25 on Jan 16, 2008 10:53 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Other
Having one attribute that's off the charts.  Doesn't matter what that attribute is, but I want to see at least one attribute that's crazy good.  
Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jan 16, 2008 11:29 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Change-up
The best pitchers have deception, and that deception is to make a pitch look like a fastball and then make a hitter looks stupid when they swing before it hits the plate. I do count a splitter along with a change-up.

by dlpme77 on Jan 16, 2008 11:54 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

K RATE!
It correlates the best with major league performance and with long careers.

by alskor on Jan 16, 2008 3:44 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

can't pick one thing
i'd say i need to see:
  1. a good-to-great fastball
  2. at least one other great pitch
  3. at least a third (if not fourth) average pitch
  4. nothing particularly bad in any other category (especially command)

by bleedjaxblue on Jan 16, 2008 5:50 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Everything else being equal
I like a kid who already shows a good change and work ethic.

by BoydsOfSummer on Jan 16, 2008 10:40 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

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