http://www.memoriesofkevinmalone.com/2010/03/prospect-profiles-2010-allen-webster.html

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Overview-Selected in the 18th round of the 2008 draft out of a high school in North Carolina, there was little expected of him as a professional.  In his debut season as a Dodger, he showed rocky control that didn't garner him any supporters.  Last year though, something clicked for Webster, and he dominated at both Rookie league stops.  Once just an afterthought with some upside, Webster is now one good season away from becoming one of the best prospects in the system.

Stuff-Webster is still maturing, but his pitches are already plenty impressive.  His fastball sits 91-92 mph and touches 95 with late life.  His breaking ball is an inconsistent power curve, but it's a potential plus offering.  He throws it hard from 77-82 mph, and when it's right, it has ideal two plane break.  When it's not, it has a hump to it and flattens out horizontally.

The development of a third pitch will be key to Webster's future as a starter, and he is already working on his changeup a lot.  Not surprisingly, he doesn't go to it often in the game, but he throws it frequently in the pen and in warm-ups, which is good to see from a pitcher in the developmental stages.  For now, the movement on his change comes and goes with his release point, but it shows promising fade every once in a while.  It's difficult for me to give the pitch anything more than an average future grade until he shows progress with it though.

Command-His ability to be around the strike zone with both his fastball and curve is excellent for somebody so raw.  Webster lives down in the zone with both pitches, sometimes a bit too much, yet he has shown the ability to change the hitter's eye level when necessary.  I don't think he has yet developed fine command, as his mechanics seem to be a work in progress, but you can already tell he has a good feel for the baseball and the zone, which projects well going forward.  The changeup is something that needs to be worked on though, as he doesn't seem to quite have a grasp on it yet.  The pitch comes out awkwardly at times, and it's his only offering ends up higher than intended more often than not.

Mechanics-Webster has a fluid and repeatable motion with good arm action.  He also has excellent front side mechanics, as he points his glove to the target and brings it into his chest to activate the rotation of his shoulders.  During his leg lift phase, he turns his back to the batter a bit which adds both deception and reverse rotation as he begins towards home plate.  He passively scap loads to get the ball into throwing position, but he reaches with the ball behind his back as he takes the ball down out of his glove, which shows the ball to the hitter.  This isn't an uncommon problem for guys without a good arm circle, and it's not a big deal, but I see little reason to go through the hassle of turning your back to the batter in an attempt to add deception if you're just going to show the hitter the ball ahead of time anyway.

Furthermore, turning his back to the batter causes him a bit of trouble with using his hips.  His hips and shoulders turn together (instead of his hips going ahead of his shoulders), and it's almost as if he's pirouetting like a ballerina with his lower half on the follow through.  I believe Webster needs to start stepping to his left more to prevent throwing across his body.

In addition to the hip activation problem, Webster's plant leg stiffens up too quickly for my liking.  When he plants his lead foot, he should continue to drive his hips toward home plate, but instead he straightens his knee and lifts his hips upward, which is why his motion looks a bit awkward at that point.  Webster's delivery is without any real issue until footstrike, so using his lower half more efficiently is what he really needs to work on going forward.

The good news is that his problems are either minor or relatively easy to correct, and if he learns to open his hips more aggressively and stride through the plate, you could see another velocity uptick, as well as increased fine command.  Most importantly, despite the minor flaws, his timing is good, which should bode well for his future health.

Mental-Nothing of note.

Health-No significant injury history that I know of.

Performance-Webster struggled mightily in the GCL as an 18-year-old, posting a 3.44 ERA, but walking 17 batters and striking out 13 in 18.1 IP.  That's good for an FIP of 5.93, which is a more accurate representation of what he deserved.  Last year though, Webster made adjustments and came out on fire.  He destroyed the AZL with a 2.08 ERA, 2.05 FIP, 1.03 WHIP, 56 strikeouts, and 14 walks in 47.2 IP.  That's domination of the league, and he got a well deserved promotion out of the complex league and onto Ogden.

Webster didn't slow down in the hitter friendly Pioneer League, as he posted a 3.00 ERA and a 2.39 FIP.  More importantly, he stuck out 21 and walked just 4 in 21 innings.  Better yet, he has been effective at limiting home runs, as he has surrendered just two in his 87 career innings.  Helping him accomplish this feat is his career ground ball rate of 48.7%, which is a great trend to have for a young pitcher with a high strikeout rate.

If Webster can carry over his 2009 performance to full season ball, there shouldn't be any question that he's a top five prospect.

Other-Webster is quite thin, but he has room to fill out, which helps his projection.

Projection-It's hard to resist two potential plus pitches, one potential above average offering, and potential plus command, but since Webster is yet to even make his full season debut, the highest i'm willing to go with his ceiling is as a number two starter.  Even then, a lot would have to break right for him to get to that point.  Barring injury, I figure he's a solid middle reliever at worse, which is actually quite an optimistic ceiling for a player of his experience.  Overall, i'm high on Webster's polish, stuff, and projectability.  As such, I give him a good chance of making an impact, and I think he most likely profiles as a middle of the rotation type starter.

Webster should make his full season debut next year in A-ball, with a possible move to high-A lurking if he shines early on.  2011 would be the absolute best case scenario for him in terms of getting to the big leagues, but it would be prudent to assume 2012 instead.