Time for a poll: Sanchez or Stroman?

[theblujay]

We've talked a bit about this so its time for a poll. If you could only keep one which one would you keep?

[Angrioter]

Stroman bandwagon.....

 

Sanchez easy

[The Cats Ass]

Syndergaard

[G-Snarls]

Syndergaard

 

Don't do that

[theblujay]

I'm pretty interested to see how this turns out. Idk which way it's gonna go

[Abomination]

There's no question Sanchez has higher upside, but I think Stroman is far more likely to reach his potential. I also like the fact he's had to constantly prove himself. Sanchez may also fetch a higher return.

[jays4life19]

Dirty Sanchez

[GD]

I had to go Stroman. This is so tough though. Ugh.

[Ziggyy108]

Stro fo sho.

 

Sanchez getting dealt.

[Angrioter]

bandwagon

 

David Robertson 60 IP guy (Stroman) Vs Mat Latos 200 IP guy (Sanchez)

[G-Snarls]

David Robertson 60 IP guy (Stroman) Vs Mat Latos 200 IP guy (Sanchez)

 

Stop it...

[L54]

I'm surprised it's so close

 

Sanchez

[The Cats Ass]

bandwagon

 

David Robertson 60 IP guy (Stroman) Vs Mat Latos 200 IP guy (Sanchez) Vs Justin Verlander CY Young guy (Syndergaard)

 

You have to go with the Ace Reliever guy don't you...?

[G-Snarls]

Angrioter butting in on Twitter as usual. LOL.

 

[HERPDERP]

Stroman obviously

 

Stroman at his best - Pedro.

Stroman at his worst - Rosenthal

 

Sanchez at his best - Weaver

Sanchez at his worst - Daniel Cabrera

[z3r0s]

Stroman obviously

Stroman at his best - Pedro.

Stroman at his worst - Rosenthal

 

A fair and realistic floor if I've ever seen one.

[Atothe]

Stroman obviously

 

Stroman at his best - Pedro.

Stroman at his worst - Rosenthal

 

Sanchez at his best - Weaver

Sanchez at his worst - Daniel Cabrera

 

tell you're joking about stroman being pedro at his best?

 

Sanchez no doubt

[z3r0s]

tell you're joking about stroman being pedro at his best?

 

Sanchez no doubt

 

Whats with the Weaver comp tho? Did Weaver ever have that kind of heat?

[Atothe]

Whats with the Weaver comp tho? Did Weaver ever have that kind of heat?

 

maybe some weaver from 100 years ago but neither weaver bros had sanchez's fastball

[HERPDERP]

Yeah I was overreaching on Pedro comparison - it's just hard finding short people who throw heat with good control

 

Though if Trevor Rosenthal ends up a starter in the next few years they'll be comparable.

[HERPDERP]

Fine, fine

 

Sanchez at his best - Scherzer

 

If only we had Syndergaard we'd have the next Verlander/Scherzer tandem...

[Angrioter]

Stroman obviously

 

Stroman at his best - Pedro.

Stroman at his worst - Rosenthal

 

Sanchez at his best - Weaver

Sanchez at his worst - Daniel Cabrera

 

Aaron Sanchez can easily reach the Weaver's 87 Mph throwing with his left arm

[Angrioter]

Marcus Stroman, the mythbusting machine

by Kyle Boddy

November 20, 2013

 

In the 2012 MLB Draft, there were many concerns about Marcus Stroman's ability to be a starter and questions about his "max effort" mechanics, leading a lot of analysts and pundits to project him as a future reliever/closer rather than a starter. This is interesting; Stroman is not a obvious college reliever like Jimmie Sherfy (Oregon, now Arizona Diamondbacks) who has plus stuff, spotty command, and questionable health. (For the record, I love Sherfy. But as a reliever.)

 

At Duke, Stroman showed the ability to take the ball every week and go the distance. In his draft year, Stroman punched out 136 hitters over nearly 98 innings, giving up just 83 hits and 26 walks with a 2.40 ERA. Stroman fell to the Toronto Blue Jays with the 22nd pick of the first round, where they promised to work him as a starter. Yet rumors and unfounded projection from other sources said he might be better off as a reliever.

 

In my write-up of the 2012 draft class, I rejected this ridiculous notion, saying:

 

Stroman has great rhythm and an aggressive lower body; there's a lot to love here. He gets the most out of his "undersized" body while other bigger/taller pitchers get away with being less efficient. Stroman's fastball has great life in the zone and hard arm-side run and flashes decent sink at times. He has a wipe-out slider but knows how to get lefties out as well.

 

Stroman has one of the best strikeout rates among draft-eligible college starters, so why are people talking about moving him to relief as a closer? Stroman worked out of the rotation throughout his junior year at Duke and maintained his fastball velocity deep into games, sitting 93-94 and touching 96 at times. It's a size issue again, as people think Stroman's height will stop him from being a prototypical starter. This advice makes no sense, and I hope he gets his shot to stay in the rotation as a professional pitcher.

 

Conclusion: Great value here, as I really like Stroman above [Andrew] Heaney, [Chris] Stratton, and a few of the high school pitchers. Size issues aside (they mean nothing), he should slot well into a pro rotation if he's given the chance.

 

I spoke to multiple scouts in the area. All said that he was too small—one called him "badly undersized" at 5-foot-6 (this actually appeared on a scout's report where he downgraded his Overall Future Potential out of the first round because of this). One scout told me he had two major league plus pitches (his fastball and slider) and two average major league pitches (change-up and curveball), yet he was adamant that he preferred him in a late relief role. What? How many pitchers in the big leagues right now have two plus pitches and two average pitches?

 

It was not so long ago that a diminutive Tim Lincecum won back-to-back Cy Young awards while being the best pitcher in baseball over a three-year span despite questions about his mechanics and size. You'd think scouts and front office executives would have learned by now. (For those who sling insults about how Lincecum is washed up and done, all I know is that if major league teams knew what they were getting into by drafting him, Lincecum would have gone first overall without question.)

 

Yet here we were in 2012, railing on someone who had excellent collegiate statistics and elite-level stuff (fastball up to 96-97 mph with a wipe-out slider and a change-up that flashes plus movement; Stroman also had very good command of all of his pitches) just because he was short. As another pitching coach I know likes to say: "Aside from beauty pageants, ice skating and pitching mechanics, what other fields value form over function?"

 

But people are starting to notice after Stroman's crazy good 2013 (111.2 IP, 129 K, 27 BB, 99 H, 3.30 ERA at Double-A New Hampshire—Major League Equivalency: 112 H, 35 BB, 117 K). They see the stats and they see the stuff:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/images/animgifs/stromanCB.gif

 

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/marcus-stroman-the-mythbusting-machine/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[G-Snarls]

Baseball Prosectus on the topic:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22376#.UqXTYa4LmxQ.twitter

[Angrioter]

Time to revisit?

 

- Stroman absolutely carved up AAA and is pitching for the big club.

- Sanchez with 7.3 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in AA

 

IMO Stroman is clearly the better prospect at this point.

 

Nolin is legit too

[ElNik2013]

LOL. Imagine if AA hadn't used his brain and kept Syndergaard and Nicolino. You'd have these 2 plus Stroman, Sanchez and Norris. Oh and soon Norris will catch up to Sanchez at AA.

 

I'd like to dream big on Sanchez, but can't get past his performance. I'll keep StroShow.

[ElNik2013]

Nicolino isn't anything special

 

I know, neither is Nolin, but you also need back of the rotation and depth starters, especially cheap.

 

I shouldn't have lumped him with the other guys no doubt.

[Angrioter]

Not an exciting prospect, but definitely a guy you can see taking a regular turn as a 4th or 5th guy. Good guy to have around.

 

Low risk, acceptable reward.

Travis Wood, Wade Miley: 2-2.5 WAR

[Angrioter]

[Angrioter]

Damn, DeSclafani's numbers are legit.

 

DeSclafani Vs A-Sanchez K:BB

6.73 - 1.83 <> 9.66 - 5.08

8.83 - 1.50 <> 8.10 - 4.24

7.44 - 1.68 <> 7.82 - 4.17

7.95 - 2.09 <> 7.28 - 5.17