Zac Lowther

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, brvn52 said:

6 shutout innings for Lowther today.

6 IP, 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, 4 K’s

Drops his season ERA to 1.68. Career ERA now below 2, at 1.95!

Scoreless battle with Casey Mize, the 1-1 pick from last year.   

[Cumberbundy]

Who does meatlowth compare to? A sexier Matt Purke?

[Frobby]

By the way, that’s 20.2 consecutive scoreless innings for Lowther.   

[Flash- bd]

On 5/20/2019 at 10:39 PM, Cy Bundy said:

How will Corn survive? I do recall you amending an argument about Erbe being a strike out machine once you realized he was not, flawless recall is a curse. 

Erbe was definitely a strike out machine before his injury. 133 Ks in 114.2 IP in Delmarva at age 18, 111 Ks in 119.1 at age 19 at Frederick, 151 Ks in 150 IP in Frederick at age 20. 

Was a big fan of that kid, gotta defend his rep. 

[Cumberbundy]

32 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Erbe was definitely a strike out machine before his injury. 133 Ks in 114.2 IP in Delmarva at age 18, 111 Ks in 119.1 at age 19 at Frederick, 151 Ks in 150 IP in Frederick at age 20. 

Was a big fan of that kid, gotta defend his rep. 

A strike out machine ——————— until he was not one. He was my favorite prospect. 

[LookinUp]

Continuing this discussion from the Gray Rod thread. Here's an interesting quote from the article:

Quote

Certainly, there always will be a place for pitchers who can transcend the radar gun with intelligence and skill. But just the same, the obsessive quest for velocity in today’s game will probably continue to squeeze out the soft-tossing finesse archetype of yesteryear. Sadly, that means it will be harder than ever for crafty, Moyer-esque pitchers to carve out a place in baseball.

I think this is generally true. However, I also think that Lowther and Wells are taking the path that you have to take as this kind of pitcher. They're dominating without dominant stuff. That might even be misleading. Their stuff might be dominant, albeit without dominant velocity. They're not going to get promoted on potential alone. A guy like Harvey will probably make the majors either with the O's or as someone else's Rule V pick some day just because of his stuff. Wells and Lowther will have to carve out their spots by screwing with the timing of batters and something close to pinpoint control. 

 

[Frobby]

Nice outing today, 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K’s.    As usual, he’s gotten no run support, and leaves losing 1-0.   

[bpilktree]

10 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Nice outing today, 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K’s.    As usual, he’s gotten no run support, and leaves losing 1-0.   

He’s pitching at Bowie they can’t score and give no pitcher support.  

[Ruzious]

So... what does Lowther need to do to play in the majors?  He's 23.  Is he really going to be more prepared for the majors by staying longer in the minors?   Isn't this the kind of year you want to give a look in the majors to someone like him?  

 

 

[LookinUp]

8 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

So... what does Lowther need to do to play in the majors?  He's 23.  Is he really going to be more prepared for the majors by staying longer in the minors?   Isn't this the kind of year you want to give a look in the majors to someone like him?  

 

 

What's the rush? I'd let my non-prospects eat innings in the majors this year and let Lowther show he can perform at AAA first.

My guess is he'll get a AAA chance in the next month-ish. Could get a cup of coffee in September, but likely not for a ton of innings after a long MiL season. 

[Ruzious]

1 minute ago, LookinUp said:

What's the rush? I'd let my non-prospects eat innings in the majors this year and let Lowther show he can perform at AAA first.

My guess is he'll get a AAA chance in the next month-ish. Could get a cup of coffee in September, but likely not for a ton of innings after a long MiL season. 

But what specifically is he going to learn by staying in the minors?  

[LookinUp]

3 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

But what specifically is he going to learn by staying in the minors?  

Every level is hard and he's a guy without overwhelming stuff. Will the fastball still miss so many bats? Will his secondaries and/or location need to improve? Pitch sequencing? You don't know until you go up a level. He'll learn a lot about himself and we'll learn about him too. That's part of making sure he's actually ready for the majors, not just a kid who looks like he could probably handle it while dominating AA.

 

[WalkWithElias]

10 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

But what specifically is he going to learn by staying in the minors?  

How to get hitters out? I'm very confused by your insistence on this issue. We have had players dominate at Bowie for years that didn't produce when they reached the majors. The idea that we should throw him up against major league hitters because... why not?... doesn't seem like much of an argument. 

[Ruzious]

19 minutes ago, WalkWithElias said:

How to get hitters out? I'm very confused by your insistence on this issue. We have had players dominate at Bowie for years that didn't produce when they reached the majors. The idea that we should throw him up against major league hitters because... why not?... doesn't seem like much of an argument. 

I'm asking about him in particular because he doesn't have great stuff and does know how to pitch to minor leaguers, and I'd really like to know what... SPECIFICALLY... he's going to learn by staying in the minors.  If he gets promoted to AAA, is working against AAA and AAAA type players really going to help him learn to get major leaguers out?  

Does it really bother people (even a WWE fan) that I ask these questions?

 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Ruzious said:

I'm asking about him in particular because he doesn't have great stuff and does know how to pitch to minor leaguers, and I'd really like to know what... SPECIFICALLY... he's going to learn by staying in the minors.  If he gets promoted to AAA, is working against AAA and AAAA type players really going to help him learn to get major leaguers out?  

Does it really bother people (even a WWE fan) that I ask these questions?

 

Lowther struggled in his last outing.    He’s not on the 40-man roster and doesn’t need to be until after next season.   I’m fine with promoting him to Norfolk but wouldn’t dream of having him skip that level and go to the majors.