Minor Report: Ethan Martin

So yesterday I got to hit up my first minor league game of the young season, and took in a pretty solid pitching matchup as Ethan Martin of the Inland Empire 66'ers faced Will Smith of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. OK, it didn't end up quite the pitching matchup in the end, but the first five innings or so were pretty impressive. Today I'll take a look at Ethan Martin, and I'll try to do a write-up on Smith later in the week.

Martin is very athletic, especially for a pitcher. He looks more like a middle infielder, and he was a two way player coming up through High School. The former first round pick is listed at 6'2" and 195 pounds. Martin employs a simple delivery which he repeats very well. Last night Martin was primarily working with his fastball/curveball, and also mixed in a change, which is definitely his third pitch right now.

I didn't get behind the plate until the second inning, and Martin was pitching at 92-93 for the most part, and hit 95 a few times. The pitch had good life, with late arm side movement. For the most part, Martin was able to command the strikezone with the fastball. Martin's curveball is truly nasty. His curve was coming in around 80-84 with sharp two plane break. At one point he threw three straight curveballs to strike out a Quakes hitter, and all three had great break and good location. His command of the pitch, at least last night, was solid. A few times he didn't get on top of the pitch and the pitch was well out of the strike zone, up and away to a lefthanded hitter. Martin's third pitch is a change, and it lags well behind his two primary offerings. The pitch comes in with similar velocity to his curveball, ranging from 80-83. The change looks like it could be a split finger, as he starts with this grip as he takes the sign from the catcher. The pitch had inconsistent movement when he threw it, primarily when warming up. Sometimes the pitch had good armside fade and sink, while other times it appeared to be straighter with some sink. He lacked command with pitch last night.

Martin's pitching line from last night was 5 IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, and an impressive 9 K's. One of the hits was an infield hit. I didn't note his pitch count, but he only went the five innings since it was his first start of the year. I was very impressed with Martin. He delivers easy velo from his simple delivery and the ball comes out of his hand very easily. The development of his change up will determine his future. He should be, at least, a solid bullpen option similar to Scot Shields early in his career, when he was primarily a two pitch guy offering a plus fastball with a big curve. If the change develops he could be pitching behind Clayton Kershaw in the rotation, his first two pitches are THAT good.