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Bob, I’m originally a central Illinoisan as well then moved up here after college. I used to go to Springfield (IL) Cardinals games back in the day, been a Cards lover ever since.
Bob – In 2006, Adam Wainwright was in 61 games, with no starts. I don’t believe he was ever slotted to be a bullpen pitcher long term. Perhaps it’s a good way for a very talented starter to cut his teeth at the major league level.
“Graceffo supposedly did a heavy off-season training regime that added about 4 MPH to his fastball. I’m hopeful some other system pitchers might see this and emulate him with similar results.”
Yeah, I hear you, C.C. Supposedly Graceffo is a highly motivated workout fiend. Very driven, dedicated. I guess I’m just a little leery about big velocity bumps in a relatively short timeframe. Seems they presage arm troubles with a lot of guys — at least I kind of recall John Sickels and other evaluators opining such.
“Villanova hasn’t exactly been a hotbed of baseball talent. This century, only 3 Villanova players have made it to the Major Leagues.”
“In 2006, Adam Wainwright was in 61 games, with no starts. I don’t believe he was ever slotted to be a bullpen pitcher long term. Perhaps it’s a good way for a very talented starter to cut his teeth at the major league level.”
Thanks for the Graceffo research, cranny. Didn’t realize Villanova’s hardball history was that dreary. Ugh.
And as for Waino and the MLB apprenticeship of minor league pitchers, I actually DO like the Earl Weaver Template, i.e., breaking in the future MLB starter as an MLB reliever — but generally, like with Jim Palmer, for multiple innings rather than the Jordan Hicks Model of “throw as hard as you possibly can, for as long as you can, before your arm falls off like in Saving Private Ryan.”
“Bob, I’m originally a central Illinoisan as well then moved up here after college.”
Sounds like me, ChiTown, right down to the early minor league games in Springfield (though my very first games featured the looong-defunct Decatur Commodores). Right after college it was Chicago for me, too. From 1984-2001 in Hyde Park, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, and finally by Belmont & Western. Still get back there five, six times a year to see old friends, play poker, and generally misbehave.
We lived in Glen Ellyn from 1974-1979. Really enjoyed the Chicago area. Sophistication of the East Coast, but Midwest people. I believe the winter of 78-79 still holds the all time Chicago record for the most snowfall. Brrr. One of the reasons why we moved back to St. Louis.
I like how Graceffo finished his year at Springfield. Usually at the end of the minor league season top pitching prospects hit the proverbial wall. His late season success bides well for 2023. He has a legitimate chance to be in our rotation somewhere in the middle of next year.
Hopefully Graceffo and McGreevy will start in AAA or get there quickly so we can see what we’ve got. Graceffo seems to have held up better in AA. Hopefully some dominance in AAA will be necessary before a move to MLB so as not to repeat the Liberatore experience.
Any news on Graceffos injury. If it is relatively minor, it could be a blessing in disguise keeping his innings lower.
“Shoulder inflammation” could be anything except a blessing. Unless he fell down the stairs shoulder first, then the situation is his shoulder could not tolerate the work it was doing.
Graceffo’s bump from low to upper 90s in pretty short order was good for his prospect status, but not so good for his shoulder. I agree with bling, as much as I want to believe guys with shoulder issues can make it, the odds are stacked against them.
Shoulder issues are usually very concerning. Tough to see this happening to a promising young guy who has not even reached the bigs yet.
They’re always trying to coax a few more mph out of an arm. I’m sure they worked with Graceffo to do exactly that. They’d be better off trying to improve results in other ways.
That is concerning about Greceffo’s velocity increase due to some sort of regimen they had him do. Bob Reed shares my concern that you don’t want to mess with a younger guy too much as far as trying to squeeze a few extra MPHs. I think you work on stamina and arm strength first and foremost, and let the velocity naturally develop, if it is going to. You don’t want to try to covert a Stu Miller into a Nolan Ryan. Guys either have the velocity or they don’t. If they don’t, work with what they do have – movement, changing speeds, breaking pitches.
When you do the “Jordan Hicks” thing of saying “Just fire it as hard as you can until you can’t throw anymore”, you are going to quickly burn the guy out.
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