Tyler Chatwood, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
With Scott Kazmir on the DL with a back injury, the Angels promoted prospect Tyler Chatwood, who made his first major league start last night against the Cleveland Indians. The results were rough: five innings, four runs, four walks, four hits, with two homers allowed. Is this representative of his future? What you saw in the first start looks to me like a combination of rookie jitters and lack of Triple-A experience.
A second round pick in 2008 from high school in Redlands, California, Chatwood has moved through the Angels system rapidly, reaching the majors within three years. He uses a 90-94 MPH sinking fastball, along with a curve and change. His changeup needed a lot of work earlier in his career but has drawn better reviews the last two seasons.
His biggest problem has been erratic command, but he made big strides in that department last year, especially after moving to Double-A. He posted a 3.82 ERA with a 36/27 K/BB in 68 innings for Arkansas last year. The strikeout rate was low, but as a ground ball pitcher he has a chance to get away with that. I rated Chatwood as a Grade B prospect in the 2011 Baseball Prospect book, ranked as Number 36 on the pitching prospect list.
Loading comments...