Quote:
Originally Posted by OKchiefs
Why are they so bad at developing pitchers? I realize that it's hard for any team, but we seem exceptionally bad. Hell, the best pitcher we've developed in a long time is probably Junis, and even he is probably no better than a 3 on a good team.
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I do think they have improved over the past few years. First half of Moore’s tenure, IMO, they were too rigid in what they were trying to develop (not letting guys throw sliders even if it was their primary pitch, being very old school).
But the old-school approach they took has led to them drafting a lot of projectable arms that they can then develop and max-out as throwers, but with less emphasis on pitchability.
I don’t think they’ve been exceptionally bad - guys like Junis and Duffy and Ventura are nice products.
All indications I’ve received is that they’ve become more flexible over the past 3-4 years (Junis took off when they ditched the previous philosophy and stopped trying to turn him into a FB-curve-changeup guy). That’s a positive trend on the development side.
On the drafting side, I think they need to bet a little less on projectable Hs arms. Those are the biggest boom-bust product in the draft.
Note: I don’t consider Greyson Rodriguez or Kumar Rocker projectability guys. They’re both very advanced physically for HS guys,
Just need the polish.