Comments on: Porcello, Perry Get Huge Promotions

By: Jimmy Key

Jimmy Key — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:25:46 +0000

A year later, David’s Wang comparison (in one of his better years) was pretty spot on for Porcello’s 2009. And Perry seemed to hold his own for the bulk of the year that he spent in the majors, though, his fantasy contributions were next to nothing.

What do any of you expect for 2010 from this duo? A step forward for Porcello in K/9? Saves or at least holds for Perry?

By: David Golebiewski

David Golebiewski — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:36:55 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Josh.

It’s difficult to project how many whiffs Porcello will generate- I think he clearly possesses the sort of repertoire that can fool batters on a regular basis, but he’s making an awfully large jump in competition. This is a crude, quick comparison but perhaps he shows a Chien-Ming Wang-type skill set, at least initially: not that many K’s, but pretty good control and plenty of grounders.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:39:12 +0000

nice one David. I like most/all of your articles, but I thought this one was particularly informative and well-written.

how likely do you think it is Porcello can post a decent K-rate in the majors this year? I know sometimes teams limit the types of pitches their kids throw in the minors, but if that K-rate isn’t higher in the majors than it was in the minors last year, it likely crushes any fantasy upside he has.

By: Eric Cioe

Eric Cioe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:13:38 +0000

Rick Knapp, the new pitching coach with the Tigers, has talked about Porcello’s curveball and slider. He said that they ought to either separate them more, or blend them into one pitch. Now, why don’t they tighten up the slider into something like an 88 mph cut fastball? The sinker or running fastball/cutter combination has worked out for a lot of guys: Maddux, first and foremost, but guys like Chris Carpenter, James Shields, Dan Haren, and Roy Halladay, too. 70% of Halladay’s pitches last year were sinkers or cutters, both coming in above 88 mph, but moving in opposite directions. Pair this with an above average curveball, a swing and miss changeup, very good command and control, and excellent poise, and you’ve got an ace. I think he’ll do fine without the cutter, but it seems like rather than just scrapping the slider, they ought to do something with it.

Regarding Perry, he’s mostly a two-seam guy these days. Coming out of college, the big knock on him other than command is that his fastball was straight. So in instructs last season, they had him try out a few two-seam grips. I know he was using Porcello’s for a while, but I’m not sure if he still is. But now he’s got decent movement on at least one fastball from 95-97, and can still hump it up yet fastball with the four-seamer to blow guys away up in the zone.

I’m excited to see these guys pitch. The aggresive promotion of a pair of power arms has worked once in Detroit’s recent history, and maybe now they can repeat.