6/2/09

Possible 1st Rd. Met Pick - RHP - Jason Soffel




Jason Stoffel


Arizona – many consider nation’s top reliever in draft… was named Pitcher of the Week in Pac-10 for Mar. 9 – 15… short memory and seldom gets rattled… would rather start… low-90s fastball… curve is a plus pitch… as of 4/23: 39 Ks, 7 saves in 25.2 IP – down a tick this year… fastball slightly down… 1-1, 4.54 thru 4/23… In Pac-10, 15 runs in 13 innings… hammer curveball has regressed…

From John Sickles: Stoffel has struggled a bit with his command this year. He has a 5.59 ERA with a 41/19 K/BB in 39 innings, 36 hits allowed, collecting eight saves. His K/IP is very good for context, and even his ERA isn't bad given that the overall ERA in Arizona games is about 6.20. At his best, Stoffel buzzes hitters with a mid-90s fastball and a hard curveball, but he hasn't always been at his best this year. This reminds me of what happened to Mariners prospect Josh Fields at the University of Georgia, who had a similar slump in his junior year. Teams still like Stoffel, but where he gets drafted will likely depend on what his bonus demands are.

Fr. Arizonoathletics.com: Arizona 2008: Anchored one of the top bullpens in the country, setting a school record with 13 saves ... Posted a 3.00 ERA and struck out 79 batters in 48 innings pitched while walking only 15 ... Did not allow a run in five postseason appearances and pitched 9.2 scoreless innings over his final seven appearances ...
Fr. Baseballbeginnings.com on 6/1: Drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees, Storen choose the books over the Bronx. The Yankees can put you on that conveyor belt to the big leagues, but they aren’t doing it to show you all the working parts beneath your feet.
Storen, 21, is a draft-eligible sophomore who should be among the first college closers selected. He turned down the Yankees in 2007, wagering that the opportunity to pitch at The Farm while he immersed himself in his product design major was worth more than 34th round money. The Yankees liked Storen so much that he said that their offer was better than the round money, but he had his own designs.

Storen entered Stanford as a starting pitcher whose modest frame and whippy arm allowed him to top out at 92-93 mph. Starting pitching depth necessitated his conversion to closing, where he has hit 97 mph this season. Storen also throws what he describes as a power slurve, which offers a different plane and 8-10 mph of velocity separation. His third pitch, a traditional power slider, makes him a three-pitch man with a starting pedigree. That means you can flip a coin in the future

No comments: