Chris O’Leary, pitching mechanic guru, looks at Lance Lynn and sees a little bit of Maddux in his mechanics. Some have raised some concerns about the mileage on Lynn’s arm as a reason why he wasn’t worth picking as high as he went, but with Lynn there is less to worry about because of the way he pitches.
Also, I meant to reference this for a while, but not that long ago, O’Leary also took an interesting look at Jess Todd and liked what he saw with him as well.
It’s the “classic mechanics” we see at work in the draft room the past two years. Just remember, there are reasons why the Cardinals draft as they do.
Filed under: Jess Todd, Lance Lynn
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Honestly not so sure Lynn gets much sink, he had more airouts than groundouts this year.
chris seems to know his stuff…so far what i have seen from his analysis is that he hasn’t been wrong about a guy he says has good mechanics(none of his “goods” have gotten hurt)…hopefully he is wrong in thinking that wainwright may be an injury risk
i like lynn and i think a durable inning eater that can pitch effectively, if not great, is a valuable commodity
This isn’t draft news, but what to make of Mitch Boggs getting the call? Pretty exciting, just curious who gets the bump to Memphis. Todd?
No bump….Parisi just goes back down
Yeah, that is pretty outstanding. I’m sure roarke will have more on the DFR. I admit, I’ve been in the dark about everything other than the draft right up until now. heh
Mortenson went up to AAA to replace Boggs.
wow, they sure are pushing morty up pretty fast. its not like he was dominating AA either.
Hope that means Furnish up to AA
I like the way they are pushing the prospects up.
It’s sink or swim, fly or die…
Note too that Kelvin Jimenez’s option to Memphis has been rescinded and he’s been put on the 15-day DL. Presumably that makes room for Mortenson.
I’m not opposed to this move-the-prospects approach by any means, but I do wonder how it’s going to be received in Memphis. The natives had been getting restless over the perception that the Redbirds were being used as an AAAA dumping ground the last few years, with a lousy team the result. This year the team has been quite successful, and one would hope that the locals are happy to see some of “their” guys making it to the Show. However, the consequence may be that the Redbirds themselves are weakened again. Any rumblings of discontent being observed?
As long as they keep promoting talented prospects to replace the ones they send to S.t. Lou I don’t see a problem.
I’m sure Memphis fans can’t wait to get a look at Jess Todd.
That report made me feel a little better about the Lance Lynn pick. I’m still not real excited about it though.
Lynn reminds me ALOT of Mortenson in how the pick was received “oh what a poor pick, yada yada” and it was the same round (1st round supp) even. If we get another Morty is that so bad?
Also, does Jimenez being out mean that Parisi is going to the Pen or is there room in Memphis for him too?
Parisi is back to Memphis, and I still haven’t heard who is going to join the SCards. Any ideas?
Probably not the place for this, but there was a story about Springfield’s all-star squad
http://www.springfieldcardinals.com/news/?id=11330
Also, anybody going to the game on Sunday. I am going to try since Clement will be starting for the SCards.
kind of related question: why are there so many rounds of the draft? no organization can absorb 50 new players every year or adequately evaluate the 1000+ player pool they must draft from. considering this and the overall inefficiency of the process (e.g., pujhols in the 13th, ak in the first, all those who never made it to the bigs, etc.), why drag this thing out to so many rounds.
I don’t really see Lynn as being much like Mortensen at all. Mortensen was a late bloomer; a pitcher who was just beginning to grow into his body and develop the repertoire that we now see. He was seen as an overdraft because he wasn’t projected to go any higher than about the third round. The Cards believed someone else was about to pop him, and they couldn’t afford to wait on a guy they thought had some serious helium.
Lynn is an extremely mature pitcher physically. What you see from him now is essentially what you’re going to get. The reason this pick is being panned is because there were still lots of other picks on the board who project to be much better down the road. Lynn is a very safe pick, as he’s nearly a finished product, and just isn’t the sort of player you worry about flaming out.
Lynn does have an excellent delivery. I expect that, between his size and mechanics, he’ll be extremely durable in his career, as long as he can keep his weight under control. Personally, I still don’t think his ceiling is much beyond a #4 starter, maybe a 3, but a mid rotation guy that stays healthy is plenty valuable; just look at Suppan and his ilk.
I’m still in the camp that would have preferred the Cards swing for the fences a bit more, especially seeing the excellent depth they’ve managed to cultivate. Still, Lynn should be a very valuable pitcher while he’s cost controlled. I don’t necessarily think he’ll be good enough to maintain that value as his cost increases, but those first five years or so he should be a rock in the rotation, putting up solid, if unspectacular, numbers for a fraction of what a comparable free agent pitcher would cost. Again, it isn’t the way I would have gone, but it’s still a great way to use a draft pick, at least in theory.