So another good outing by Plasec, So last night, today, Beiber, it makes no sense.
Are we good at developing pitchers? Drafting them? Or just lucky?
Little A, little B, none of C.
The Indians are and have been drafting archetypes the last 5-6 years.
If you are a college starter you better have plus command coming into the draft, otherwise they aren't drafting you. From there, they are developing those guys to improve upon their stuff. Bieber wasn't throwing in the mid-90s when he was drafted and his slider wasn't nearly as good as it is now. Plesac was hurt, but wasn't throwing mid-90s either. Civale didn't throw his hybrid slider/cutter when he was drafted, it was strictly a much slower slider, plus he has added a few MPH to his stuff as well.
It is much easier to strengthen an older player than it is to teach them how to command their pitches. Why these guys are rising fast, cause professional strength and conditioning regimens don't take all that long to come into effect.
Our farm has been riddled with these guys since 2013 when they took Plutko. Plutko, Bieber, Plesac, Civale, Eli Morgan, Adam Scott, and then soon after them will be Cody Morris and Alex Royalty. It's funny to see how similar all of those guys numbers are (save for Bieber, he was in a different stratosphere as a minor leaguer).
Then it's sort of the opposite with their high school pitchers. You better have unteachable stuff as a high schooler, or they aren't drafting you. Their 5 most high profile HS pitcher picks recently have been Triston McKenzie, Juan Hillman, Ethan Hankins, Lenny Torres, and now Daniel Espino. 2 6'5+ string beans sitting in the mid-90s as 18 year olds (McKenzie and Hankins), a lefty with 3 plus offerings as a teen (Hillman), a really athletic kid touching high 90s with a plus slider at 18 (Torres), and now an 18 year old pumping easy 100 MPH gas with 2 plus power breaking balls (Espino).
From there they develop their mechanics, command, and mental aspects of pitching, which is easier to do with a teenager.
They have their types, they've stuck to it and haven't really gone outside of the box (save for Aiken who was a huge risk/reward pick they could afford to take) and it has set themselves up nicely to have a long string of success with their starters.
Big reason why I mentioned us not having a "down year or two" in a different thread. Our pitching drafting and developing is on another level right now compared to the rest of the MLB.
