Will Smith, Minor League Pitcher, RC Quakes

I got a chance to see Will Smith pitch recently and was pretty impressed with what he brings to the mound. He's not a very hyped up prospect, by any means, but he is a guy that could be pitching at the back of the Angels, or another teams rotation for a long time. Baseball America ranked him as just the 15th best Angel prospect entering the season, primarily because he doesn't have front end stuff, but he does mix in three pitches, and he commands them well within the strike zone.

The outing I saw was his first start of the season, against a pretty formidable Inland Empire lineup. The most impressive thing to me was how quick he works, he would make Mark Buerhle proud. He operates with a simple rock and fire delivery which he repeats well. His fastball ranged from 88-91, and it looked like he used a four seamer a few times that touched as high as 93. He used the four seam up in the zone, and a two seamer that has nice run to it and he was able to get some good sink at times as well. The ability to mix up the look on the fastball is a definite asset, and he had great success on this night, taking a no hitter into the fifth innning. He did run into some trouble, and he finished with a line of 6 IP, 3H, 2BB, 6K's and he allowed 3 earned runs. He did allow a home run to Preston Mattingly, which was a "Cal Leaguer" and probably wouldn't have been a home run in several other parks.

Smith mixes his pitches very well, he commands a solid change around 80 MPH that has good sink and fade away from a right handed hitter. His curveball wouldn't be considered a plus pitch, it has average break, but he varied the speed between 75-80 and commanded the pitch well. He doubled up with the curveball on at least one occasion too, and the change in velocities particularly plays up when he did this.

Smith is the kind of pitcher that the whole package is better than the individual parts, which is why I could see him at the back of a rotation in the bigs down the road. He doesn't have the huge fastball, or wipeout slider, but he uses his full arsenal to his advantage, changes speeds and commands the zone. He knows his stuff, he trusts his stuff, and he can command his stuff, and that will often lead to a pitcher's success.

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.