Zac Lowther

[Luke-OH]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I'm not sure you can ever EXPECT a 2nd round pick to dominate any professional level. The fact that he has absolutely dominated so far in his professional career is certainly something of interest. You can expect that he'll do well, but putting up a 95-12 K-BB ratio and a 1.38 ERA in his first 65.1 professional innings pitched is impressive.

I doubt the Orioles will keep him in Delmarva much longer is he keeps dominating though. He'll turn 22-years old at the end of the month so i can see him in Frederick before May if he keeps dominating.

 

On 6/13/2017 at 9:17 AM, Luke-OH said:

He's going to destroy hitters at Aberdeen.  The real test will be whether he has the stuff to get more advanced hitters out.  The lack of velocity doesn't give him a whole lot of room for error, but the secondaries are promising.

That's from before he threw his first pitch at Aberdeen.

I didn't expect it because of his draft status, I expected it because I'd watched a bunch of his college outings and I saw a guy who was going to be too advanced for younger/inexperienced hitters. SS and Low A hitters and even High A hitters have trouble with pitchers who can locate offspeed pitches and that is what Lowther does.

Now, I admit I didn't expect him to be this dominant. He has improved his profile since the draft by improving his changeup, being more consistent with his delivery (leading to less walks), and he sits a tick or two higher too (he was upper 80s primarily in college).

[Tony-OH]

9 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

 

That's from before he threw his first pitch at Aberdeen.

I didn't expect it because of his draft status, I expected it because I'd watched a bunch of his college outings and I saw a guy who was going to be too advanced for younger/inexperienced hitters. SS and Low A hitters and even High A hitters have trouble with pitchers who can locate offspeed pitches and that is what Lowther does.

Now, I admit I didn't expect him to be this dominant. He has improved his profile since the draft by improving his changeup, being more consistent with his delivery (leading to less walks), and he sits a tick or two higher too (he was upper 80s primarily in college).

Good call on your part, but I'm not sure you can even EXPECT a first round pick to dominate like he has so far. This is pretty rare. I'm happy for him and the Orioles, but I'll get excited when he's putting up good numbers in AA.

[Luke-OH]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Good call on your part, but I'm not sure you can even EXPECT a first round pick to dominate like he has so far. This is pretty rare. I'm happy for him and the Orioles, but I'll get excited when he's putting up good numbers in AA.

That's going to be the real test, I agree. It'll stress test the fastball and determine if it has enough late life, deception, command to play.

[Luke-OH]

7 hours ago, Punchandjudy said:

Tony, I wondered who Zac reminds you of?  Haven't seen him live, but he looks like a left handed Dave Steib.  

His arm action is similar to Mike Leake although Lowther is more straight forward down the mound compared to Leake's rotational delivery. His stuff is similar to 2017 Felix Hernandez (I'm not making a wild comp, current Felix isn't very good.) 

[Frobby]

From a Fangraphs chat:

Quote

Buy or sell: Zac Lowther is in Baltimore’s rotation by the end of next season

Kiley McDaniel:  If he’s getting there, it’s gonna to happen fast.   Lots of deception.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kiley-mcdaniel-chat-4-18-18/

[Ruzious]

It's only the 4th inning, but he's doing it again.

Edit - I jinxed him - he gave up 3 straight singles with 2 outs in the 4th - the first hit an infield hit.  Still, 9 SO's and 0 walks through 4 innings isn't bad. 

 

[Luke-OH]

3 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

It's only the 4th inning, but he's doing it again. 

He had to give up a run sooner or later.

9Ks, 2 pop-ups, a groundout, no walks, and 2 singles (1 infield variety) thru 4 ain't that shabby though.

[Legend_Of_Joey]

1 hour ago, Luke-OH said:

He had to give up a run sooner or later.

9Ks, 2 pop-ups, a groundout, no walks, and 2 singles (1 infield variety) thru 4 ain't that shabby though.

The offense took a cue from the big squad and only got 1 run and 2 hits the entire game.

Also, the bullpen isn't bad either. Katz and Seabrooke took the last 4 innings, with 4 hits scattered, 1 run, 2 walks and 5 strike outs between them. Kept them in the game, but again, the offense was just lackluster.

[Jagwar]

Dude has 31 K and 2 BB. Too soon to move him up?

[ChuckS]

22 minutes ago, Jagwar said:

Dude has 31 K and 2 BB. Too soon to move him up?

I think you see some promotions in mid May.  That will be the 1/4 point of the minor league season.  Only three more starts. 

[Legend_Of_Joey]

27 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

I think you see some promotions in mid May.  That will be the 1/4 point of the minor league season.  Only three more starts. 

That's about when most promotions happened the last few seasons.

Well, the noticeable ones, not org guys filling in for other org guys.

[DirtyBird]

Does he benefit at all from pitching against the low A competition?

[Legend_Of_Joey]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

Does he benefit at all from pitching against the low A competition?

"Getting his work in."

[DirtyBird]

Just now, Legend_Of_Joey said:

"Getting his work in."

Would rather him find out what he needs to "work on".

[Frobby]

Gotta figure out who loses their spot in Frederick.