Pitching Prospects

Here is my first post about prospects. Keep in mind that these are based on my advanced scouting, which is set at 20 million, so it's fairly accurate. I've also done this using my own formula based on things I've learned about this game through my own and from others. There are too many to list names, but I do want to thank anybody that has helped give me input to come up with my formulas. Now I know some are going to say,"but you've never won a championship," and my response to that is, just because I have an idea of what a good player is, doesn't mean that I can get them or have the luck on my side come playoff time. To give a little bit of insight on my formula's and not give away everything I'll give you guys some hints. First thing I want to be very clear of, these are put together based on a players abilities. I put very little consideration into stamina, durability, makeup and other things like that. A good owner can get the most out of a player regardless of that. Some players may be ranked higher than a player of less ability that can play more games. I also put a heavier consideration of abilities based on right handed splits due to a high average of right handers in the game. This is a pitchers report, but when I do the position players, I want to be clear that a heavy emphasis has been put on hitting. I know that some stud defenders will rank lower than some would rank them, but an offensive player with some semblance of defense can play positions that benefit them. It's a thing about the game that I don't like, but it's a reality. Another thing I've noticed by doing the ratings is that there was no way to make a stud pitcher rated higher than a stud hitter/ fielder. So my ratings are based on a sliding scale to get a better measure of a players worth.

Here's a little analysis of the pitching prospects that I've come up with. There are very few stud pitchers in the minors right now. I guess that's a good thing, but if injuries pop up or players don't pan out due to many factors then the quality will drop even farther. I think WIS really needs to assess how they do the draft. There just aren't enough of these types of players popping up that can make up the difference if these guys don't reach their potential. A little farther down the list is the group of solid to good major leaguers. I would say there is about 2 to go around per team of solid up to stud pitchers. Since there are 11 pitchers on the average team in a world then that isn't a good ratio. Of the pitchers that made my list as possible major leaguers that aren't really solid, but could have a role there are about 6 per team. Now we are at 8 per team. That leaves 3 spots per staff. I'm guessing there should be enough young arms in the majors now to make the difference, but that requires 6 below average pitchers per team. That's how I analyze the situation and I feel like season 18 is a good time to get an idea about how worlds will turn out after the original set of players are retiring. With that, here is my top 20 pitching prospects.

Top 20 Pitching Prospects
Rank	Player	Team	Rating
1	Roberto Lopez	Durham	92.8
Lopez lacks starter stamina, but has all the tools to dominate for 5 to 6 innings
2	Orlando Cruz	Durham	89.0
Cruz is a lot like fellow Durham farmhand Lopez in that he lacks the stamina to pitch deep into games, but he'll dominate while he is in the game
3	Hipolito Owen	Boston	89.0
Owen has a bit more stamina and durability than the top 2 guys on the list and should be a pretty dominant pitcher that can get 6 great innings a game
4	Sticky Farquhar	Iowa City	89.0
Sticky has great stamina and durability to go along with great pitching ability. He could be a regular allstar and Cy Young candidate
5	Rock Randall	St Louis	88.4
Here is another future star. Randall will dominate for many seasons and should rack up a few Cy Youngs
6	Sean Shipley	St Louis	88.1
Shipley has a bit lower stamina than fellow St Louis minor leaguer Randall, but should be just as dominant against opposing hitters
7	Brendan Taylor	Iowa City	88.1
Taylor's biggest downfall is his stamina, but his great durability will get this guy in the game quite often for 3 innings to shut down opponents every other day
8	Vinny Napoli	Chicago	88.0
Vinny ranks at the bottom of elite starters in the minors and should have a great carreer. His stamina is low, but high durability will allow him to pitch 200+ innings a season
9	Nash Casanova	Boston	86.4
Casanova will be a dynamite closer in the future. He has all the tools to close out even the best of hitters
10	Victor Maranon	Durham	85.4
Maranon has the pitches and velocity to rack up the strike outs. He should be another key starter for the future of Durhams rotation
11	Bo Carter	Tampa Bay	83.4
Carter has good stamina, but lower durability. He should be a pretty good starter in the future that should make a few all star appearances
12	Geronimo Osuna	Trenton	83.3
Osuna has the tools to keep opposing hitters down, but his low stamina and durability won't allow that to happen too often
13	Joe Grace	Durham	83.3
Grace is the fourth Durham pitcher on the list. His biggest downfall is his pitches, but he should still be a big part of this future rotation
14	Geraldo Molina	Kansas City	83.1
Molina has the tools to be a very solid pitcher in this league. His lower stamina and durability will likely only allow him to max out at 180 innings a season
15	Alberto Blasco	Colorado Springs	82.7
Blasco should turn out to be a really good closer in this league. There aren't many of them on this list and he should see a few all star appearances due to that
16	Mitchell Hayes	Nashville	82.4
Hayes has the abilities to be pretty good in the future. He lacks good stamina or durability. He'd likely excel as a setup man
17	Desi Hernandez	Charlotte	82.3
Hernandez is another pitcher that could excel as a setup man due to low stamina and durability. He has all the other tools to be a good pitcher though
18	Heinie Hutton	Scottsdale	81.8
Hutton will be a really solid starter for Scottsdale. He has the stamina and durability that will allow him to be a real good starter in Scottsdales rotation
19	Jamie Saito	Fargo	81.7
Saito has a bit lower stamina for a starter, but he can get it done in shorter stints. He has a real good pitch selection and velocity, but his splits aren't great
20	Orlando Sanchez	New Orleans	81.7
Sanchez should be a pretty good starter for this team. He has good splits and pitches, but lacks velocity and gb/fb. His biggest negative is his health rating