on a regular basis for 3 years. I’m honestly not surprised one bit that he is doing as well as he is now. Thought he was vastly underrated from the very beginning and now he’s starting to show he’s much more valuable than a #22 prospect ranking. I imagine that by years end he would be in most system’s top ten with the kind of year he’s having. Dude’s got amazing stuff and arguably the best control in the minors. Couple him with a blue chipper in Erlin and the Padres got a STEAL. Two possible TOR pitchers for a relief pitcher. Simply unbelievable.

I have played against a solid of amount of pro talent. Playing through out the Las Vegas baseball circuits, I saw several top 100 players. Jeff Malm (drafted by the Rays), the nation’s all time high school hit leader being just one of them. I also played against several draft-worthy players in college ball as well.

Kyle Davies? What point are you trying to make?

Kyle Davies @ age 21 73 IP 66/34 K/BB. Not even close to Wieland. That’s mediocre control and K ability

Jimmy Gobble @ age 21 142 IP 100/40 K/BB. Again, doesn’t come close to Wieland’s performance

Petit @ age 21 96 IP 68/20 K/BB. Closer, but Petit never showed the ability to strike out many batters. Horrible Comparison.

So you just made 3 BAD comps for Wieland. That’s not even mentioning that Wieland’s ERA this year was vastly better than those of Gobble, Petit, and Davies at the same age.

Now that you haven’t proven anything with that, I suggest you take a look at the track record of big league pitchers that DID put Wieland’s type of numbers up in the minor’s and look at the success rate.

Davies best number’s weren’t on par with Wielands. Petit had one year that was close to matching his, and Gobble had one year that was somewhat close. That leaves us with really, only one guy that was able to match those numbers for ONE year and flop in the majors. I’m not here to say that all guys with these numbers pan out, but if you do the research you will see that MOST pitchers that are able to sustain these number throughout their ENTIRE stretch of minors do. The difference being, Wieland has shown a strong ability to strike out batters since day one as well as show amazing control, unlike those three guys who were never consistently able to K batters and walk so few each step of the way. The whole body of work is what differentiates Wieland from the three you mentioned. Also, did you see the quote I posted from Sickels? It back up what I say about his TOR type secondary offerings. He also confirmed that he is only 6’3 and 175 LB.

I guess we’ll see man. I don’t usually put all my chips onto one prospect, but i’m willing to do it for this guy. I’ll say the he ends up a very solid #3 starter with the ability to become a #2. Your’e right, I am biased and rightly so. Unlike most prospects, I have had a first hand experience. Keep in mind here that MOST of these type of guys become very productive ML pitchers, unlike the 3 you listed. You gotta play the numbers man, even though there is an exception for everything. Historically, the numbers he is putting up suggest he has the chance to live up to my expectations of him. We can throw around cases of previous failures all we want, but past history has shown a much higher pattern of success.

Look at it this way, and answer this question directly; Do the MAJORITY 21 year old pitchers with a solid fastball, and 2 above average pitches with elite control tend to produce at high levels in the big leagues? Yes or No?