Reds Pitching Prospects Rankings

[homerun21]

I saw this over on the reds.com message boards and it's a good read. Check it out.

1) Homer Bailey
Bailey sports a 93-96MPH fastball with an easy motion delivery, a curveball with a hard, 11-5 bite, and a developing changeup. If Bailey can stay healthy, develop his chanegup, and tighten up his control, he will be a very special pitcher.

2) Tyler Pelland
Pelland has an electric arm. He’s got mid 90’s heat from the left side and a good, sharp curveball, but he has a long way to go with his control. Despite walking way too many batters, Pelland has shown flashes of brilliance this year with his outing of seven perfect innings and his very impressive K numbers. If he can learn some control, watch out for an unexpected ace in Cincy.

3) Zach Ward
It’s not often you can find a potential ace with college experience in the third round, but that’s how
good I could see Zach Ward becoming. At one point last year, Ward’s fastball was sitting in the 94-96 range, but an ear infection slowed him down late in the year. He still needs to polish up his changeup, but if he can maintain that velocity to go along with his good slider, he could be a heck of a pitcher.

4) Travis Chick
I have yet to really find much about his repoitre, but I have heard quite a bit about his electric fastball that can explode to the plate at speeds approaching the upper 90’s. He does have some control issues, but his raw stuff and top of the rotation potential is something to get very excited about.

5) Rafael Gonzalez
We managed to grab Gonzalez in the fourth round despite his power arm because of attitude problems, and so far he has worked out very well. Despite his poor performance in low A Dayton, Gonzalez has been lights out since being sent down to Billings and has even lost a little weight which shows he does have some work ethic. He possesses a fastball that sits in the low to mid 90’s , a nasty knucklecurve, and a complimentary knuckle-grip changeup.

6) Thomas Pauly
Pauly has been somewhat lost in the shuffle this year, but let’s try not to forget a converted reliever that put up a sub 3 ERA at high A in his first full season. Although Pauly really needs to improve on his chanegup, which could be expected from a converted reliever, his fastball/slider combo is a very good thing to build upon. Pauly’s short arm delivery gives him a whip like action that produces a fastball approaching the mid 90’s and a nasty, tight slider.

7) Terrell Young
If I was ranking on prospect status, Young wouldn’t be here, but his raw arm forces him onto the most potential discussion. Like Gonzalez, Young slipped back to the tenth round because of major makeup problems. I’m not even sure where’s he’s at right now, but lets look at his stuff. One of the intriguing aspects of Young is his frame. Despite being 6’3” and only 175lbs, Young’s raw arm strength gives a fastball that already sits in the 91-93 range. He’s got a ton of room to add some heat onto that frame and easily get his fastball into the mid 90’s. He also has a nasty curveball and a tight slider. The bottom line is, if Young pulls his act together, he has all the potential in the world to be a fantastic pitcher, but it’ll be tough for a former special ed student from Mississippi to be able to handle professional baseball.

8) Travis Wood
Wood is a lefty that has a fastball that sits in the low 90’s, a nasty changeup, and a pretty good curveball. Wood was touching 95MPH before the draft and I think once he fills out, he might be able to pitch with that kind of velocity. The one concern is that Wood has a relatively small frame which could make him an injury risk, but relying more on his changeup at this point in his career should help keep him off the DL.

9) Richie Gardner
Gardner has had a very disappointing year with the injuries and the poor pitching, but the stuff he was flashing early in the year is what could make him a real good pitcher. He throws a sinker that sits in the 90-94 range, very similar to Jake Westbrook, a tight slider which has improved a ton in the last year and become one of the organizations best, and a very deceptive changeup with the same tumbling motion as the sinker. If Gardner can pull it back together, he still has the stuff to be a #2 starter.

10) Phil Valiquette
When he was drafted last year, Valiquette was hardly topping 91MPH with his fastball, but he added quite a bit of muscle over the offseason and now has his fastball regularly in the low to mid 90’s. I even heard he was hitting 96MPH on the gun during spring training. Valiquette also has a good curveball and changeup. His control has hurt him quite a bit this year, but he did just turn 18 years old so he has time to work on that. Once he does, a lefty with his stuff is going to be successful.

11) Ben Kozlwski
I know 11 is sort of an odd number to end on, but I couldn’t stand to leave Kozlowski out of this list. Kozlowski is a big lefty with a low 90’s fastball, a very good curve, and a solid changeup. Although he has gotten roughed up a bit lately, he’s got the kind of stuff and build that could make him an excellent inning eater in the middle of the rotation some time soon.

[Geki Ace]

Either the Reds had the most productive draft ever this year, or this guy is just overvaluing some people.

[homerun21]

Only two guys are on here from this year's draft, Ward and Wood. I think they're too high, but they both have major league arms. Hopefully they stay healthy and can get up here in 4-6 years.

[General]

The Reds have pitching prospects??

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Sea Ray]

So who is the guy who wrote this? I see it came from Reds.com but who's opinion are we reading?

[ghettochild]

dumitrait isn't even on there? lizard? come on

[Sea Ray]

If that's really an accurate list then our future doesn't look too good. Very few of those guys have pitched above A ball and there's a lot that can happen between A Ball and the majors where pitchers are concerned