Hunter Harvey, stud

[eb45]

Below average command?

A 19-year-old with 40 command relative to MLB average is pretty rare, and with Harvey's stuff that jumps to extremely rare. I watched six weeks of Cape Cod League games last summer and I saw maybe two guys with potential MLB stuff and 50 (average) command. For comparison, I watched Erick Fedde and Jeff Hoffman twice each, and neither impressed me as much as Harvey (Hoffman's raw stuff is probably better though).

What sets Harvey apart for me is the breaking ball. There's really not enough good things to say about it. He makes hitters look silly with it. He can throw it for a strike or use it as a chase pitch. The only person I've seen even comparable is Dylan Bundy. Remember

? Harvey's curve got a similar reaction.

If he's come as far as these scouts are suggesting with his change, then the sky really is the limit.

[Frobby]

It's gotten to the point where I am checking ahead to see when Harvey's next start is. Tonight's the night!

Meanwhile, here is a nice article from milb.com: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140417&content_id=72275402&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_l116&sid=l116

Harvey's 93-94 mph fastball has good life, and his sharp curveball tends to buckle the knees of batters. His concentration is now centered on improving his changeup, and the early returns have been encouraging.

"I'm just working on developing it," Harvey said. "I'm not going to overthrow it. I'm just trying to work it into my repertoire and get used to throwing it in games. I never used it in high school, but I've thrown it four or five times a game so far and will continue to use it more as the season goes on."

[Can_of_corn]

Rough night for Hunter

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hunter Harvey pitched out of bases loaded jam in 4th at Delmarva. He's walked 5 tonight, has thrown 90 pitches and trails 1-0.</p>— Steve Melewski (@masnSteve) <a href="

">April 23, 2014</a></blockquote>

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Run was unearned.

[Frobby]

Short outing but it's good for him to experience pitching out of some jams.

[murph]

Maybe working on the change up like he said? Couldn't command it possibly. Regardless, I agree the adversity is a good thing.

[sportsfan8703]

Still a good start. We have no idea what he was working on. I'd be far more worried if he were hit around.

[DrShorebird]

Perhaps he was trying to be too "good" with some pitches. In the first couple of innings he was painting the black on both sides. On the last pitch of most of his walks, he just missed the black rather then come down the middle with a fat one. He was throwing one pitch occasionally that I couldn't figure out...it seemed like a change-up. It looked something like a slower hanging curve outside, but I don't think it was meant to be a curve because his curve was really sharp and a knee-buckler. He had good control on his curve and was using it as an out pitch. When he was starting to get in a jam, he went to his curve. Therefore, I don't think this pitch was a curve that got away. It was more like a change-up that needs a lot of work. Just guessing. One thing for sure though -- he is fun to watch pitch.

[Redskins Rick]

Perhaps he was trying to be too "good" with some pitches. In the first couple of innings he was painting the black on both sides. On the last pitch of most of his walks, he just missed the black rather then come down the middle with a fat one. He was throwing one pitch occasionally that I couldn't figure out...it seemed like a change-up. It looked something like a slower hanging curve outside, but I don't think it was meant to be a curve because his curve was really sharp and a knee-buckler. He had good control on his curve and was using it as an out pitch. When he was starting to get in a jam, he went to his curve. Therefore, I don't think this pitch was a curve that got away. It was more like a change-up that needs a lot of work. Just guessing. One thing for sure though -- he is fun to watch pitch.

I can't wait for him to get to Bowie, so I can see him in person.

[Redskins Rick]

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2014/04/alan-mills-on-hunter-harvey-and-a-look-at-a-suddenly-taxed-os-bullpen.html

MASN Article today by Steve Melewski with quotes from Alan Mills, single A pitching coach.

[eb45]

Perhaps he was trying to be too "good" with some pitches. In the first couple of innings he was painting the black on both sides. On the last pitch of most of his walks, he just missed the black rather then come down the middle with a fat one. He was throwing one pitch occasionally that I couldn't figure out...it seemed like a change-up. It looked something like a slower hanging curve outside, but I don't think it was meant to be a curve because his curve was really sharp and a knee-buckler. He had good control on his curve and was using it as an out pitch. When he was starting to get in a jam, he went to his curve. Therefore, I don't think this pitch was a curve that got away. It was more like a change-up that needs a lot of work. Just guessing. One thing for sure though -- he is fun to watch pitch.

That'd be his change. Work in progress was putting it mildly when I saw him last summer. I'm more interested in hearing more about how that comes along than his results, honestly. I know he can dominate Low-A hitters with his FB/CB. If he's only throwing them and he has 10 K/9 and a 1.50 ERA, I'd be less excited than if the change started to show genuine fade but he only had 8 K/9 and a 2.50 ERA. That third pitch is what separates the good prospects from the great ones, and I'm glad he knows that he still needs to work on it.

Thanks a lot for the report and I look forward to reading more.

[Frobby]

Not a great outing for Harvey tonight: 5 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's.

[Can_of_corn]

Not a great outing for Harvey tonight: 5 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K's.

He also had a HBP.

A fair amount of the damage happened in the 6th.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Harvey allows a single, triple and walk to start the 6th. He's pulled for Williams Louico. 5+ IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 K. Shorebirds down 2-0.</p>— Delmarva Shorebirds (@shorebirds) <a href="

">April 30, 2014</a></blockquote>

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[mcpd]

Harvey pitching right now on milbtv if you have it.

[paulcoates]

Tonight

IP 6.0

H 4

R 4

ER 0

BB 1

SO 6

HR 0

ERA 1.69

[canonfaz]

Tonight

IP 6.0

H 4

R 4

ER 0

BB 1

SO 6

HR 0

ERA 1.69

I wonder how much longer Harvey will be pitching at Delmarva? I would like to see a promotion to Frederick before the ASB.

I think that young pitchers can develop bad habits if they are dominating the competition too much. Just my worthless option though