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Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:44 pm
by darth_federer
Pettitte isn't that great a prospect, as he's old for the level, but New Hampshire starter Zach Stewart was extremely impressive in his seven innings of work, striking out 10 (also against a weak lineup) with just one walk and ten groundouts against just one air out.
Stewart showed four pitches, pitching at 90-96 with sink and some tail with a tight, out-pitch slider at 83-87 that he threw for strikes, even back-dooring it to left-handed hitters for called strikes. His changeup was the biggest surprise, as another scout at the game told me he hadn't seen it this good before; it's mostly straight but has good separation from the fastball at 81-85 and his arm speed is excellent. He also used a fringy curveball with good depth, but he didn't command the pitch as well as he did the slider.
Stewart worked aggressively with everything and had good tempo. He stays over the rubber before driving forward with a long stride, although his arm action is a little long in the back and he pronates relatively late in the delivery. I know several scouts see Stewart as a sinker/slider pen guy, but I see four pitches, a good frame, and a pitcher who likes to attack hitters, and I see a potential No. 2 starter, maybe a No. 3 if the changeup isn't always where it was tonight.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankee ... ehab-startIt was a weak lineup, but good news is good news right?
Re: Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 4:09 am
by DonYon
possible candidate for the closer job?
Re: Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 5:19 am
by Randle McMurphy
DonYon wrote:possible candidate for the closer job?
Sure, but he's starting in the minors for a reason right now.
Re: Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:39 pm
by Hoopstarr
He's also much higher on Drabek now than he has been in the past...
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?nam ... id=5549942Kyle Drabek came to Toronto in the Roy Halladay trade this past offseason and ranked No. 40 on my Top 100 prospects coming into the year, but Wednesday night he brought the best stuff I've seen (or heard of) from him, with two plus-plus pitches and an aggressive approach. He started out 93-97 in the first inning and was 91-96 by the end of his outing, hitting 97 at least three times over the first two frames. His power curveball at 84-86 was a big league out pitch, with depth and a very sharp break -- and he threw it for strikes in addition to burying it for swings and misses.
He barely used -- or needed -- his straight changeup, but it's also not yet on par with the other two pitches. He worked to both sides of the plate and overpowered most of the hitters in Trenton's weak lineup. Drabek takes a long stride toward the plate and generates great arm speed from it, although he doesn't rotate his hips much and is off the rubber very quickly. I'm more concerned by his tendency to throw across his body when going to his glove side because of how he cuts himself off in his landing. Those two pitches do give him ace potential that I hadn't seen from him, although the lack of a solid third offering and the minor delivery issues probably give him a realistic ceiling just below that.
Not as much by Adeiny
Adeiny Hechavarria is slick at shortstop, but there's a lot of style there relative to the amount of substance, and he muffed a routine groundball in the laziest of ways -- he failed to come in, setting his feet and waiting for it to reach him, and an unexpected hop put the ball in his gut instead of in his glove. At the plate, he's got a long swing with a big finish and showed poor pitch recognition, but he deserves some extra slack there as a first-year player in the U.S. who's already in Double-A and is listed at 21. I see above-average run, throw and probably field tools, but the bat is a work in progress.
Re: Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:26 pm
by aligator
Stewart and Drabek are both outstanding prospects as starters. I would expect either or both to pitch in the bigs sometime next year but due to service time issues, neither will break camp with the big club nor be promoted till the 2nd week of May at the earliest. They will both start in LV I am sure.
Re: Keith Law impressed by Zach Stewart
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:27 pm
by dagger
Interestingly, some changes may be coming in the next couple of weeks. Cecil seems to be running on fumes, so the Jays have re-slotted the pitchers to create a de facto six man rotation with three slots marked as TBA.
TBA may be Kyle Drabek
ShiDavidi
... Gaston said Kyle Drabek has been discussed but no decision yet been made.
4 minutes ago via web
ShiDavidi
#Jays push Cecil back in rotation b/c of his fatigue. TBA starter now on 15th, 22nd and 28th, essentially making it a 6-man rotation (more)
5 minutes ago via web
GloBlair
Jays thinking of bringing Drabek up to pitch in the majors this month. Change of course ... Cecil getting torched one of the reasons.
24 minutes ago via TweetDeck