Tommy Hunter is pretty good

by Adam J. Morris on May 19, 2008 2:46 PM CDT Comment 47 comments

Terrific AA debut for Tommy Hunter today. Check out the box.

7 innings, 5 hits, 4 Ks, no walks, 1 run (on a homer).

As has been discussed before, the Rangers seem to be fast-tracking him. I wouldn't expect to see him in Arlington this summer, because of the 40 man implications, but I'll be surprised if he isn't in the majors at some point in 2009. While there was some talk he'll end up in the bullpen, Hunter looks like he could possibly be another Joe Blanton...a big, strike-throwing, innings eater for the middle of the rotation.

And that would be a very nice result for a guy picked where he was selected.

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Given your earlier post about pitching to contact

and defense, I can see them moving him up quickly. I was at the game today and I don’t think he got behind in the count to more than a couple of batters. He was always at the strike zone. Early in the game he started a lot of hitters off with a strike right at the knees, and the balls were often low as well, kept the ball down. He had about the same number of pitches as the Missions’ starter but got 7 IP instead of 5.2.

After the first two innings I was thinking solid #4 guy, hit hard at times but eating innings. And he looked like he could be in Arlington by late 2009.

...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on May 19, 2008 2:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

88 pitches, 64 strikes according to milb.com

by rooster on May 19, 2008 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Score one for the scouts

I remember when he was drafted there was a lot of confusion about why the Rangers took him. His college stats were okay but nothing special – I never saw anything in them to make me go “wow”. He was kind of written off as a cheap pick to end the 1st round. JD had taken three expensive high school pitchers and a hard-to-sign college player. So just go for a big college pitcher who may fill in a bullpen role someday.

Bottom line: someone saw something in this guy and thought that he could develop into a major league pitcher. And it looks as if whoever that someone is had a pretty good eye.

by JBImaknee on May 19, 2008 3:14 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Let's credit Nolan Ryan

He is going to receive the credit for all pitching related progressions going forward anyway.

Matt Harrison’s no-hitter? Nolan Ryan.
Neftali Feliz’s development? Nolan Ryan
Wilmer Font’s badass name? Nolan Ryan.

What a legend!

Dalton

by jparks77 on May 19, 2008 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Has to be him!

by corbsclinton on May 19, 2008 4:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ugh...

I can already hear Clueless saying “Damn straight, it’s all Nolan”.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on May 19, 2008 6:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nolan's balls

People in New York continually bring up Nolan Ryan when the subject of the Rangers’ climb back to .500 comes up. Apparently, Nolan Ryan is a pitching coach at all levels of the minors and at the major league level. He also acquired all of the pitching talent we have and is single-handedly teaching them how to be winners.

Dalton

by jparks77 on May 19, 2008 6:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

I was about to post the same thing. I remember a lot of people thought that the Rangers reached to take him in the sandwich round.

by Topgun22 on May 19, 2008 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Harrison and Hunter being up quickly

I think that they may be up this summer and next summer respectively, but I don’t know that it’s going to be any more meaningful to the club than, say, Rupe getting healthy or Murray being ready as a starter. They’re additional #4/5 options. I just have a bit of a hard time getting excited about the arrival of Matt Harrison and its impact on the team.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh and

He’s big, throws strikes and has several pitches. But I just don’t see a Blanton caliber guy there.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not dominican enough for Z

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

On a serious note

why do you not like the comparison between Blanton and Hunter?

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And

too old…

/jk ;)

...it's the weekend, so why the hell not?

by Rodney on May 19, 2008 3:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think that Hunter is similar to Blanton, just not as good

here is part of a scouting report on Blanton from the season where he moved from A-ball through AA:

Blanton has the makings of a classic power pitcher. He usually throws 93-94 mph and hits 96 with his fastball, and he has tremendous command of the pitch. MWL managers rated his slider as the league’s best breaking ball, and his curveball also can buckle hitters’ knees.

That is just more turbocharged across the board than Hunter. Hunter’s pitches are all regarded as average.

During that A/AA season, Blanton’s K/BB ratio was 174/26, and hitters hit about .200 against him (and .174 in AA).

As a major league pitcher his stuff doesn’t scream out at you, but when you compare him with prospects, which is what you’re doing with Hunter, he is just better.

And I don’t know about you but I just see a little Latino in him.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does the fact

that Hunter is much more athletic and therefore, at least somewhat more likely to maintain his stuff, than Blanton factor into your thinking in any way?

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do you mean within a game?

If that’s what you mean, maybe it should.

But at that point, I think you can just take how effective he is and determine whether you see Hunter being that good. And I don’t.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let me say that another way

If you’re saying that as a big guy who isn’t as athletic, Blanton could be more prone to wearing down within a start and seeing his stuff devolve, my reaction is that whatever he’s doing he gets like #2 starter results. So whether Hunter’s stuff holds up over the course of a game or not, I don’t think that it’s good enough even fresh for him to be that caliber of SP.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Couple of things

1. I’m not sure Blanton is a #2, or that he gets #2 results. He puts up near 4 ERAs (near 5 in 2006) in a pitcher’s park. I don’t think that’s anything more than a back of the rotation guy, or an innings eater.

2. I’m much more concerned with peripherals than I am about stuff. And El Cupcake, as far as I can see, is a guy that walks about 1.5 per 9 and strikes out about 5 per 9. He gives up less than 1 HR/9 in the majors. Those are ratios I think Tommy Hunter can maintain. Is there anything about him that makes you doubt his ability to maintain those ratios?

3. I also think athleticism has an impact on how a pitcher ages. I think Blanton, when he got up to the majors, gained some weight and that had an impact on his delivery and mechancis. That might be the reason why we saw a dip in his stuff. Hunter, I think, is less likely to suffer from this loss both long-term and in-game. I tend to dislike bigger pitchers because I question their ability to keep themselves in shape and maintain their stuff. If Hunter’s athleticism can help mitigate this pitfall, I think he has a much better chance of contributing on the ML level.

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

On the first two

1. I think that you’re going to have a hard time finding 90 major league starters better than Blanton, but however you want to slice it, my guess is that Hunter doesn’t match his numbers or their translation in Arlington. I will say, if you are just wanting to argue that Hunter is a back rotation guy, I have no quarrel with that. Mine would be more that I think that Blanton is better than that.

2. I think that he might be able to come close on the BB and K numbers, which is good. One concern that I’d have is that this is where stuff might play in, in translating how aggressive he can afford to be. But compare how hard Blanton was to hit at those levels with what Hunter did in Bakersfield, and I just worry that Hunter will be hit too hard to reach Blanton’s level. I also worry about HRs since Hunter does have to pitch in our ballpark. Of course there is always the possibility, at least in comparing Hunter with another prospect, that pitching in the Cal League really hurt his numbers. And we don’t have a ton to go on anyway. I just think that what I saw today dovetails well with his numbers so far and what BA has had to say about him from a scouting perspective.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hit hard

It did look like hitters were making some good contact. If most of those go right at defenders, fine, but some of those will go through and some will go out of the park.

...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on May 19, 2008 8:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And I also

move to officially nickname Blanton El Cupcake

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll second that notion.

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates

by slc ranger on May 19, 2008 6:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

How about

Livan Hernandez as a comp? Big bodied innings eater without overpowering stuff that people sometimes think too highly of.

...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on May 19, 2008 3:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now that I could see

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 3:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would take Livan

He has been a consistant number three guy throughout his career. If Hunter can come up and be that guy for us for 5 or 6 years, it would save us a lot of money.

by clark on May 19, 2008 3:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Same here

Certainly not looking to rag on Hunter, especially on the same day that he makes a really successful AA debut early in his first full pro season. I just fear people getting a little overexcited by a comparison like Blanton.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 4:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

hey nothing wrong with being giddie little boys

over some prospects.

The bloggerformelyknownasBigBaddBubbaJ

by NYTXFAN on May 19, 2008 4:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

See

I think there is. When you have inflated hopes for guys, frustration grows, and people become jaded and, well, they become like Cahill. :)

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 4:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

See

Knockoutking, agreen08 and Eric Hurley

by FirebatM3 on May 19, 2008 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just

as I was looking him up on BR.

.519 WL% , 100 ERA+ career.

Much worse things could happen to the no. 54 pick…

...it's the weekend, so why the hell not?

by Rodney on May 19, 2008 4:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Like we were talking about in the other thread

The thing that I think that you really have to like about Hunter is that even though he’s not going to be a phenom, it’s really easy to hope/expect that he will be some sort of contributor to a quality staff. There really aren’t a whole lot of pitching prospects (especially ones only a few months into their professional career) about whom you can say that, even among guys with electric arms or a put away pitch.

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 4:25 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Livan has gotten it done over the years,

I’d take that comp.

The bloggerformelyknownasBigBaddBubbaJ

by NYTXFAN on May 19, 2008 4:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blanton

I think I may just hold him in lower regard than you do, as compared to thinking too highly of Hunter.

I see Blanton as a #3/#4 starter.

by Adam J. Morris on May 19, 2008 5:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah I think you're right

by Brett Perryman on May 19, 2008 5:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see what you are saying

but I’d be pretty happy to see a Ranger minor league pitcher break in with the club and be a reliable member of the rotation, any spot 1-5 has value – and I’m at a loss to remember the last pitching prospect that turned into a reliable rotation member for the Rangers.

Pedro: "I wasn't cockfighting, I just have a wide stance."

by tricer on May 19, 2008 3:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mistake

I’ll admit I was mistaken about this guy. I hated the pick after looking at his college stats. Good to see he is proving me wrong.

--Brian

by BCanfield on May 19, 2008 4:32 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Different take

I was at the game today.

“{i] After the first two innings I was thinking solid #4 guy, hit hard at times but eating innings.[/i]”

I disagree with the above comment. IMO, he was never hit hard. He struck out the first hitter on three pitches. His fastball was in the low 90’s His breaking ball was in the high 70’s.

He gave up a crisp single to center field in the first inning. He gave up a HR to LCF a few innings later.

In the first inning, the second baseman slipped and fell on a “hit and run” play. The ball went over the slip marks in the dirt. Later, there was a soft roller that went over the out stretched arms of the 2nd baseman.

I was on row 2 of section 106. Mr. Hunter is much bigger than Mr. Diamond from the waist down.

I was very impressed with Mr. Hunter’s performance. I will attend the game in Springdale this coming Saturday.

How many other folks(not in uniform) will attend his first two outings at the AA level?

Max hit one off his fist that wound up in the LF bleachers. Cherokee (aka Chris Davis) hit a shot that confused the umps. It took a few minutes for them to rule it a HR.

It has been a great spring day for baseball.

Trosey

by Trosey on May 19, 2008 5:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey T!!

Where have you been hiding? I’m jealous you got to see his debut. If I didn’t have a closing today I probably would have called in sick and stayed down there for it cough cough

http://www.mvn.com/milb-rangers

For old times sake...C'mon Kelly! :-)

by Beverly23 on May 19, 2008 5:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The olde gang

getting back together?

I’m in!

;)

...it's the weekend, so why the hell not?

by Rodney on May 19, 2008 6:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Contact

My comment was more about what I thought would happen at the ML level, though there were some balls hit hard today. If he is around the strike zone that much major league hitters are going to hit some balls hard. I really liked his aggressiveness, though, and that strike-ball and K-BB ratio is very nice.

Mr. Hunter is bigger than almost any ballplayer from the waist down. Those are some powerful legs.

...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on May 19, 2008 8:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs