Player Breakdowns: April 20th
Notable Performances, Dane Acker, Jonah Tong, & Brett Wichrowski
Winston Santos (TEX) - High-A: 5IP 1H 0ER 2BB 12K
Santos is the ultimate sleeper in the Texas system right now. And that’s before we go over the feature in our Player Breakdowns after the notable performances from last night. He sat 94-96 last night and usually sits mid 90s and touches upper 90s. It’s a swing and a miss pitch for him. He racked up 15 whiffs in this one and struck out an absurd 12 batters over 5 frames for a 44% CSW%. Santos is going from having one out pitch to potentially two out pitches with a new slider that he’s featuring. It’s been a pitch that he’s come into camp working on and it’s been effective. So effectively going from one to two out pitches is a world-changer for Santos. I’ll keep my eye on him because the continued development of a 3rd out pitch (changeup) could mean starter potential — and a dominant one at that considering the mid-90s fastball and his breaker are already solid offerings. He’s now down to a 0.57 ERA at the High-A level to go with a 24:4 K to walk ratio. His WHIP is 0.83 and his Avg. against is .161 after last night, through 15.2 IP. He’s gone at least 5 innings in each of his starts to begin the year and if he keeps this level of production up, AA can’t be too far off. And yes, the slider is as good as advertised.
Chase Dollander (COL) - High-A: 5.1IP 3H 4ER 1BB 12K
I was fairly generous to Dollander coming into the season in my preseason Top 100 Pitching Prospect Rankings by ranking him 21st without ever throwing a pro pitch. Here is what I wrote:
What can I say about Colorado pitching prospects that hasn’t been said before? Jon Gray was another hard-throwing top-10 pick going #3 overall to the Rockies in the 2013 draft. I loved Dollander before the draft and now only like him due to the fact that he’s in that organization. Still, he features a mid-90s fastball that can touch upper 90s and a slider that touches 90s with a tight release. He’s mostly effective with his fastball-slider combination but also has a curveball and changeup to keep hitters on their toes. He’d be about 5-7 spots higher on this list if it weren’t for him being in Colorado. Even with that said, Dollander is the future ace of the Rockies staff figuring to slot in as a solid SP2-SP3 with upside.
That was written on January 31st. It’s now the end of April and nothing has changed about that good old Rockies organization except that coaches are now taking joyrides in the cockpit during team flights which has the FAA concerned. My home league-mates know my views about the organization and those close to me know, but now I guess you all know, too. It’s a tough org. to get through to and to be successful in. Especially for a pitcher. Dollander is one of the few bright spots. He racked up a brazen 24 whiffs last night which would have been one hell of a view from overhead. He’s now up to 2.93 ERA over 15.1 IP to go with a 27 to 5 K-to-walk ratio. He’s been damn good and for my money, underrated heading into the season. He’s not going to be underrated any longer. Just keep in mind which org. he’s a part of and how quickly they move him — that’ll tell you a lot about what they think of him, internally.
Owen Murphy (ATL) - High-A: 5IP 2H 2ER 1BB 11K
There’s a saying that goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Well after last night, any new pitcher heading to Rome should do as Owen Murphy does. I wrote about Murphy in my Projecting the Future series and here is what I wrote:
Much like Logan Henderson, Owen Murphy has seen his fastball tick up this offseason. His fastball sat 94.2 mph in his first spring training appearance while sitting 90-91 last year. He got over 18 inches of iVB on it, too. So we’re looking at a fastball that will play and complement his slider and curveball, which are both solid offerings. His command is also solid for someone his age, allowing just 3.21 BB/9 last year between A and A+.
We’re looking at a potential fast climber and while everyone was clamoring over AJ Smith-Shawver last year, I’m here to tell you that Owen Murphy has a chance to be better.
Murphy racked up 17 whiffs last night on a night where it seemed like everyone was racking up an absurd amount of whiffs at the High-A level. Well, Murphy had the second-highest whiff total at the level behind the aforementioned Chase Dollander. I don’t have his metrics but when I’m able to get more of his data, I’ll share it with you guys. Murphy is now tied with Dollander for the most strikeouts at High-A with 27. He has a 1.59 ERA through 3 starts, all of which he’s gone at least 5 innings.
Cade Povich (BAL) - AAA: 5.1IP 3H 0ER 4BB 9K
Povich lost a bit of his newfound control freak luster last night when he walked four batters. But the results are speaking for themselves as he now has a 0.83 ERA through four starts, all of which he’s gone at least 5 innings. I think we see him in Baltimore sooner rather than later. I mentioned Povich as a Target in my iVB and Velocity differentials post earlier this week and the iVB was at 17.2 inches last night with a velocity of 92.2 mph on his fastball. That’s down from 18.7 inches of iVB he had on his fastball in his previous start but these fluctuations are not uncommon. He’s still pitching with better overall metrics this season and it’s showing as his results are far improved. Povich would be a nice stash for me before he gets called up.