Player Breakdowns: April 19th
Some Notable Performances, Santiago Suarez & Jaden Hamm
Before we get to the player breakdowns, I want to highlight some notable pitching performances from yesterday’s action.
Paul Skenes: 3.1IP 1H 0ER 2BB 8K on 65 pitches
Everybody can calm down on the “Skenes is ready now” narrative. He’s been ready. Skenes will make his debut in Pittsburgh sometime in May. For right now, just enjoy what you’re seeing out of him in Indianapolis at the AAA level as he’s shown he’s the best pitching prospect in baseball through these first several weeks.
Adam Mazur: 5IP 3H 0ER 1BB 4K on 73 pitches
Mazur has been efficient as all hell to start the season and he’s continuing to show that he’s a control freak. He’s limiting extra passes and he’s pitching to weak contact. Mazur has proven me wrong as I stated in the offseason that he’d be best suited to be in a long-relief role as his velocity would hold up better. I’m now not so convinced of that. I think Mazur is ascending himself into being one of the top pitching prospects in baseball at this point. He now has a 0.56 ERA through 16IP (starts) to go with a 16:2 K to Walk. His Avg. Against was a .154 last night and he’s kept it below .200 in all his 3 starts. Underrated stud.
Tink Hence: 5.1IP 4H 1ER 1BB 6K on 83 pitches
His real name is Markevian and his mother started calling him “Stinker” by the time he was 5 years old which then evolved into “Tinker” and now Tink. So there’s the evolution of how we got to Tink. I wish he was still called Tinker because that’s what he does. He shows you the fastball and then tinkers around and drops down that immoral changeup that just confounds hitters. Tink. He’s barely allowing any hits as his average against was at .132 last night. He had a 0.00 Avg. Against in his first start and a .091 Avg. Against in his second start. His ERA is now at 1.17 through 15.1 IP and is posting a 17:2 K to walk. Hence train will be rolling by mid-summer as I said this offseason.
George Klassen: 5IP 2H 0ER 2BB 7K on 74 pitches
Klassen at this point is proving that he’s too advanced for Low-A. I wrote that last time he started during his Player Breakdown. He’s dominating and he’s barely mixing in pitches as he’s using his fastball and cutter to mow down hitters. High-A will be calling soon.
For some odd reason, he looks like a completely different pitcher than he did in the Big 10 at Minnesota. I’m not saying he’s a control freak but he is posting a 24:4 K to Walk in his first 3 starts. That could be a product of the environment he’s pitching in and we’ll see how he fares against better competition, but it’s something to keep an eye on. As of right now, he looks like one of the most dominant pitchers at the Low-A level.
Will Warren: 6IP 2H 0ER 1BB 7K on 83 pitches
Warren’s sweeper is doing sweeper things. He threw it 18% of the time in yesterday’s start and it got over 16 inches of H-break and led to a 50% whiff rate and a 44.4% chase rate. It averaged over 2880 RPM. Warren is on call-up watch the moment the Yankees have a spot open. His arsenal is good enough to be a legitimate starter and the stuff is good. He’s had an up-and-down start to his season at AAA but once a call-up is imminent, I think he pitches to his standard.
Let’s get to some video and the player breakdowns: