Yesterday I headed out to Redlands East Valley High School (REV) to see REV starter Griffin Murphy face Yucaipa hurler Taijuan Walker. Walker entered the season ranked as the 23rd ranked High School player by Baseball America. Murphy wasn't on the top 100 list, but his stock has risen to the point that Baseball Rumor Mill had him ranked tenth among pitchers eligible for the 2010 draft (linkage: http://www.baseballrumormill.com/2010/04/top-10-pitching-draft-prospects-so-far/#more). Aside from their status heading into the June draft, there aren't a lot of similarities between the two pitchers. Below I will compare and contrast the two pitchers.
Griffin Murphy
Murphy is listed at 6'4" , 205 pounds. He has a solid pitchers body with strong legs. His body type and pitching style remind me a lot of Angels lefty Joe Saunders. Murphy's biggest strength, to me, is his pitchability. He doesn't have true wipe-out stuff, but he knows how to use his stuff effectively. Murphy's fastball is usually around 87-89, but he often bumps it up to 90-91 to blow away hitters up in the zone. Murphy commands the fastball well to all four quadrants of the zone. Murphy also throws a curveball (75-78), and a change (70-75). Neither of the offspeed pitches are plus pitches right now, but he mixes them well and got multiple strikeouts with both pitches in a previous outing against Redlands High School. Yesterday, Murphy was pitching with flu-like symptoms (thanks Inland Valley Bulletin) and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to pitch. The fact that he not only pitched, but pitched a complete game, struck out twelve and only allowed two runs speaks volumes of his competitive nature.
Taijuan Walker
Walker is listed at 6'5", 195 pounds. Just watching Walker warm up, you can instantly see this kid is a great athlete. Walker led the Yucaipa basketball team in scoring, averaging 21 points per game, blocks (69), and rebounds (15+ per game). Walker is transitioning that athletic ability to the diamond, where the only thing holding him back at this point is experience.
Yesterday, Walker was primarily pitching around 91-93 with the fastball, with a few fastballs coming in a few ticks higher. The first thing you notice with walker is how easy the fastball comes out of his hand. He isn't a max effort guy who has to hump up to get the velo. In the bullpen he spun some sharp curveballs and showed a change, but the secondary pitches didn't transition to the game too well, and he didn't throw a lot of offspeed pitches to get a very good read on the movement or velocity. Taijuan also took a pretty hard spill at first base attempting to beat out an infield single. He definitely was affected by the spill, as he regularly grabbed the left knee area while pitching and later in the game while playing third base.
With 40-50 scouts in attendance at the game, I'm sure all were impressed with Murphy's gritty performance and Walker's upside. It should be interesting come June to see where these two youngsters are drafted.
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