There's no player I'm more excited about than Dellin Betances. I'll do a feature of some kind on him later this year, but the Daily News' Ian Begley has written up a little pre-Spring Training piece on his commitment to excellence. Give it a read.
Just to remind you. This is a 6'9" Brooklyn product that has transformed himself in under a year from a raw high school talent with a power fastball, to a semi-sophisticated pitcher with a variety of plus pitches, and 20 pounds of extra power behind his 96 mph+ fastball. He's a repeatable pitching motion and a little mound experience from bursting onto the Major League scene, and I'm betting that going into the 2009 season, he will be the top prospect in the minor leagues.
Last year we heard Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi comparing Phil Hughes to Roger Clemens. I wonder what kind of impression Betances is going to have on campers in 2007.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Betances
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6 comments:
Where will he be pitching this year?
I live in SC and would love to get the chance to see him
Hi Steven.
I hear he'll be pitching in Charleston this season, so you may be in luck. If you do get a chance to see him pitch, I'd love to talk about it with you.
If and when you go, drop me a line at my e-mail. You can find it at the top of the blog in the right margin. Just click my name.
Dellin Betances is no Philip Hughes rite now at this moment, but he could end up better than Hughes. Betances is bigger and he throws harder.
I agree deric. That's why he's my favorite prospect. Hughes is a top pitcher, but Betances has no ceiling. Should be fun to watch.
Mike,
I actually live closer to Greenville (sawx affiliate- the drive- how's that for a lame name- named after a big sponsor BMW who has a manufacturing plant nearby. They also constructed their own version of the left field monster wall- very tacky ) The riverdogs will be here at the end of July and I will attend all those games- just hope he pitches
I lived in the Charleston area for 8 years and my son and many friends are still there, so I think I will be making the 4 hour drive a few times this summer.
Mike,
Thanks for your kind words over at My Baseball Bias. I love reading your posts and the Matsuzaka website is such an amazing resource.
I did a little post on Dellin too and this kid is the real deal. 6'9" and lanky. He can really rip the ball through the zone too with his over the top pitching motion (referring to the video).
I wanted to pick your brain a little concerning Igawa? You said in a previous post:
"The baseball world is in store for a treat when Matsuzaka takes the mound every five days for the Red Sox, but Yankee fans may be pleasantly surprised by Igawa".
Have you seen Igawa pitch? I've looked at his numbers and they look impressive. Great K/BB ratio and decent ERA. Actually, in the Bill James 2007 Handbook, his adjusted component ERA (ERC) for 2006 was 2.60. Do you think that's low based on the level of competition in Japan?
In a related topic, I was wondering if you might read this post on Dice-K I did last week and tell me if I'm completely off-base. I think the Red Sox/Boras are being rather careless with the overexposure of Matsuzaka. The Boston media is crazy. They cover "Truck Day" (when a big truck picks up the spring training gear that goes to Fort Myers) like it's the 7th game of the world series.
Here's the link to my post:
http://mybaseballbias.com/?p=171
Sorry this post was so long. I just had a lot on my mind and wanted to get it all out. Thanks again for visiting the site and I'll be checking in with yours daily.
Later Mike!
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