→ oosama :太晚了, 如果有人看到方便翻譯, 就..... 謝謝幫忙落 02/28 03:55
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Yankees certainly have to be excited about the top of
their pitching staff in High-A Tampa. Along with star lefty prospect Manny
Banuelos, the Tampa staff also boasts 6-foot-8 Dellin Betances, who is
blossoming before our eyes as an elite pitching prospect.
Coming off elbow surgery, the big question for the towering right-hander is
going to be his health. If he can stay healthy, there is no telling what he
can do on the mound. And, given what I saw in his most recent outing with
Tampa, the sky is the limit. Here is what I saw from Betances on Thursday
night in Clearwater:
Physical Description
What can you say about a guy who is 6-foot-8? His presence is immense on the
mound and that's one of the first things you notice about Betances. And this
is not a young man who looks like he could blow away out there. The
22-year-old is a very strong, well-built athlete. He has the long limbs to
match his extra-large frame, but overall looks comfortable and coordinated.
You see a lot of tall pitchers, including Yankee prospect Andrew Brackman,
that can look a bit awkward at times. That doesn't appear to be the case with
Betances.
Mechanics
My biggest concerns coming into this outing regarding Betances were
mechanical in nature. He's been through major surgery, has limited mound
experience because of that surgery, and tall guys like himself are prone to
mechanical inconsistency. Overall, his delivery was much more clean and
consistent than I anticipated. That said, he still can get out of sync in a
hurry, and that happened a couple times over the course of this particular
outing. He lost his arm slot at one point against Clearwater and began to
lose the feel for his fastball. To his credit, he was able to right himself
rather quickly. Given his size, it's always going to be something he has to
stay on top of.
Most importantly, his arm action looked long, loose and clean, without any
hitches or violent movement in there at all. As far as his future health is
concerned, that's certainly a good sign. Betances also does a very good job
of keeping his delivery under control by employing a slight hip turn that
keeps his weight back nicely over his back leg. By doing that, he's
maximizing the benefits of his tremendous height, staying tall over the
rubber, getting on top and getting that big extension out in front that his
size allows for.
Fastball
Here's where Betances is going to make his living. The owner of a true plus
fastball, the big righty separates himself from other young pitchers with
good arms with his use and confidence in his fastball. As stated above,
considering his limited experience, Betances has a true presence on the mound
and quietly seems to believe no one can touch his best fastball. However,
that does not mean he is reckless in the zone. Sitting consistently at 94-95
mph, Betances routinely bumped 96-97 mph up in the zone.
Betances already shows an advanced idea of how to use that explosive fastball
as an out pitch up in the zone. You rarely see minor league pitchers do this
with any real intent.
And the key words here are up in the zone. Betances already shows an advanced
idea of how to use that explosive fastball as an out pitch up in the zone.
You rarely see minor league pitchers do this with any real intent. But on a
consistent basis, he was willing to start hitters with off-speed pitches to
get ahead and then finish up in the zone at 95-96 mph.
Still, although his fastball command is solid, it's not pinpoint. That's a
lot to ask at this stage in his career. It will continue to develop, and he's
already very aggressive in the zone right now with average command. Given his
well-above-average velocity, that should do the trick just fine. The attack
mentality, confidence that his fastball can and will miss bats, ability to
make hitters commit to it in the upper quadrants and above, and plus life
will make him quite a presence with the fastball alone at the next level.
Curveball
Betances' top secondary weapon, the curveball is an impressive one to say the
least. And unlike many young arms with plus curveballs, he does not overuse
it. He remains primarily a fastball pitcher. But when he did mix in the
curveball on this particular night, it was extra sharp time after time.
Thrown at 81-83 mph, the curveball showed very hard, late bite with tight
12-6 rotation.
For the most part, he was able to stay down in the zone with it, but at his
height he has to avoid getting lazy with his finish or else he's very prone
to hanging it up in the zone. That happened on a couple occasions against
Clearwater. When he does stay on top and finish properly, he has advantages
with his curveball that just can't be taught. Throwing from that high angle
produces big depth and hard rotation. This will be yet another swing-and-miss
offering for him at the big league level.
Changeup
For a pitcher of Betances' limited experience and power stuff to have
anything resembling a decent changeup would be surprising. It turns out
Betances has more than just a show changeup, and instead has a very usable 5
changeup on the 2-8 scouting scale. Given the good two-seam movement he has
on his 82-85 mph change, there's potential for it to grow into a plus pitch
if he can refine his command.
To his credit, he already has enough confidence in his changeup to go
back-to-back to start off an at-bat then finish with his fastball. Pitching
backwards is not something you expect to see at this level from a young man
with a 95-mph fastball.
Summation
Given some real similarities in their deliveries, as well as having highly
similar arsenals and approaches, the best modern-day comparison for Dellin
Betances is Josh Beckett. Obviously, Beckett may not still be that dominant
pitcher, so this comparison goes more for the Beckett of old. Betances
obviously is taller than Beckett, but other than that they are comparable in
just about every other way, including the powerful mid-90s fastball, their
deliveries, and the hard 12-6 hooks.
But since he was drafted, there's never been much doubt that Betances had
potentially all-world type stuff. Thankfully, his elbow surgery has not
robbed him of that. It may have, in fact, given him more time to develop his
changeup and refine his delivery. Those two categories have both gone from
potential weaknesses to strengths.
The bottom line here is this: keep Dellin Betances on the mound and healthy
and his talent is as good as anyone at the minor league level. Health is the
only thing that can hold him back.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 61.62.204.38