Baseball-Intellect: White Sox Top Prospects of 2011

I’m intrigued by him, and I think he’s a guy who should definitely have a long career in a utility role.

But his plate discipline is a concern. He strikes out too much for somebody who doesn’t hit for power.

I can see him as a .280/.325/.405/.730 hitter with above average defense. I don’t star potential though.

to back up the claim that pitchers with mechanics like Sale put them at greater risk for TJ surgery. Pitchers have TJ surgery all the time and they come from pitchers with mechanics of all stripes.

To counter those who make that claim, I point to Mickey Lolich, the most durable pitcher in Major League history. 3600 innings, including a 376 inning season…not one arm related injury in his career. And check out his arm action…

Also, if you compare the animation you linked to the animation in my article of him with the White Sox, you’ll see his timing is much better. It’s a cleaner arm action he has.

Sale’s arm action is a little more extreme than Lolich’s, but I have to point out, as I said in his write up, the height of his elbow is distorted as it relates to the shoulder because Sale bends over at the waist. This is especially true for the White Sox animation.

It’s high because he’s a young pitcher, not because the mechanics are bad. My biggest concerns for him are that he might hurt his arm as he attempts to make adjustments in developing major league quality command and breaking ball consistency. Both could hurt his chances of being a starter long-term . . .but few pitchers at his stage of development are lacking in things that could hurt their chances of being a starter. Drew Pomeranz and Matt Harvey (to name two guys taken ahead of him in this draft) have some serious flaws of their own and lack Sale’s pro experience, and yet both seem to get more credit as future major league starters than Sale.

since college. He’s adjusted the placement of his hands, lowered them a bit and moved them closer to the back of the shoulder. He also widened his base for better balance. I didn’t get a chance see him from the side angle in the AFL, so I’m not sure if his swing has gotten long on him.

From what I could tell, his timing looked off in the AFL. I think there are a couple of adjustments he can make with his swing, but nothing major. For instance, he uses a toe tap as a timing mechanism, and then takes a tiny stride forward — I’d like him to lengthen that stride. But ultimately, I think he needs to get his timing right first.

His contact rate will likely be dictated by how well he can recognize different pitch types. He’ll swing through his fair share of pitches, but he covers the plate well, and he’s flashed an ability to adjust to breaking balls in mid-air.