I would go with Withrow. While both have dominant stuff, shoulder injuries tend to worry me more then elbow injuries (although both are red flags).

and all things considered, I think I’d go Scheppers. Shoulder injuries are scary, I’ll grant you, but here’s the rationale…

Looking at the coverage Scheppers has gotten in the AFL and so far in spring, I think his stuff is better than Withrow. Scheppers command of his stuff is better, and he’s a more refined product than Withrow. I think Scheppers stays in the rotation and hits the majors ahead of Withrow.

There are some questions with both of them, I think Withrow has more questions, such as advancing the consistency of his stuff, improving his control (which didn’t show much improvement over the year), and durability, but Scheppers remaining question is a big one: his shoulder health.

At this point, I’m placing faith with the Ranger medical staff who, last I read, didn’t think there was a tear. Also, from what I’ve read (and I don’t put too much into this level of analysis anyway), his throwing motion is fine.

So anyway, it’s close, and I think Withrow could easily jump from 40-50 prospect to the top 20 this year, and maybe even make it to the majors. I just think Scheppers is closer to that, and I’ll roll the dice on his shoulder.

But it was shoulder, we know that much. If it was a stress fracture, than it doesn’t concern me much at all. If it was something labrum or rotator cuff that might swing this around for me. As I’ve said before, Scheppers’ mechanics and delivery look pretty smooth to me.

All things being equal, I think you always have to take the guy with elbow injury over the guy with the shoulder problems…. but all things arent equal here for me. I think Scheppers is a rare and special talent.

This was a tough call I had to think about for awhile (despite initially having Scheppers about 20 spots higher on my top 100) but I’m going with Scheppers. His stuff is just electric, and a step above Withrow’s.

Both guys are very talented and you really can’t go wrong here.

His injuries (cutting his hand on a scuba mask) have tended not to be structural, whereas Scheppers’ have been. I have been banging this drum around here as long as I’ve been posting, that people have been underrating pros like Beckett (blisters) and prospects like Hamels (broken hand in a bar fight) and painting them as injury-prone, when their injuries are flukey or likely to be overcome, whereas they overrate prospects who do have structural injuries because of the advancements in surgery.

Add to that the fact that I see most projections having Withrow as a starter and Scheppers as a reliever, and that makes this a rather easy call for me. It’s not even close, IMO.

I believe the plan for Scheppers this year is to have him be a SP (likely starts in AA) and then possibly bring him up midseason as a reliever like they did with Feliz last year. The Rangers want to limit his innings due to his relative inactivity last year. Longterm they see him as a SP.

His plane is unlike anyone I’ve seen in a long time. He comes from so high; the path of the ball to the plate looks like it is always moving down. Do you think Rangers ask him to stop the bouncing he does before the windup? Has anyone seen a pitcher do this before? I don’t know why, but he reminds me of Mark Fidrych.

I go with the guy that has the better stuff. All reports seem to point that Scheppers could get out MLB ballplayers as a reliever now. I don’t think Withrow can be seen to do the same thing.

It looks like scheppers is gonna be restricted to bullpen/closer. I have heard 0 talk about his future past being a mid season call up in 2010. Will he ever get the chance to start? If Withrow’s ceiling is in the Dodgers front of the Dodgers rotation and Scheppers ceiling is a top reliever or closer, Withrow gets the edge no matter who’s stuff is better right now

-Elbow concerns vs. shoulder concerns
-Much better chance at sticking as a starter
-Upper minors experience vs. no pro experience

Last year was basically his first year out of HS, riding dirty with 9+K/9 between high-A/AA.

Scary.

Because of health and track records/experience (and the difference in stuff being relatively negligible), Withrow is preferable, and it’s not particularly close IMO.

Maybe I’ve missed it, but I’ve seen very little discussion in this thread as to Scheppers’ ability to stick as a starter. The general viewpoint (I can recall KG, but I’m sure Callis, Law and others have said it as well) is the “Scheppers’ shoulder is a ticking time bomb and he should get to the majors (in relief) as fast as he can” one.

Don’t get me wrong, Scheppers’ stuff is fantastic. But if he’s ticketed for the pen, he’s Daniel Bard — a top shelf relief prospect and future closer, to be sure, but certainly less valuable than even a mid-rotation starter.