Kyle Virbisky Scouting report

[Tony-OH]

Virbisky is a 6-foot-7, 24-year old right-handed starter who was drafted in the 17th round by Oakland out of Penn State. 

He uses a 91-93 MPH fastball that touches 94 on occasion and can get swings and misses up in the zone. He offsets that with a 83-85 MPH slider that can flash average as well as a 77-79 MPH curveball. He has a changeup, but no feel for the 85-86 MPH pitch.

I watched a few starts of his starts and he has good mound presence and is not afraid to shake off his catcher. He's athletic and his fastball comes out real easy making me wonder if there's more in there in a relief role where he can let it loose a bit. 

He's around the plate a lot and his fastball can get barrelled which makes him a bit homer prone. Don't take too much away from his ERA since he's pitched in some very much hitter's leagues.

Overall, I think his future is in the pen and he would fall in the 40-50 range in the top 75. 

 

 

[RZNJ]

I saw some video and was pleasantly surprised by how athletic the delivery looked especially for a big guy.  

[ScGO's]

This was a sneaky pick up, and I like it as Elias continues to find ways to add to our milb SP depth which has been one of our areas of need 

[btdart20]

I heard he was ranked as the A’s prospect with the best command.  I wonder if they think with his size, they can unlock some additional MPH?  95-97 with the extension of a 6’7” dude puts the hitter in a much tougher spot!

[btdart20]

Also I like how he was basically a throw-in on a good trade to begin with.  That’s a great way to maximize drafting hitter heavy and still get some arms in the system.

[Number5]

28 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

I heard he was ranked as the A’s prospect with the best command.  I wonder if they think with his size, they can unlock some additional MPH?  95-97 with the extension of a 6’7” dude puts the hitter in a much tougher spot!

Seems to me that even if the MPH is the same, it would get on the batter faster if the pitch is released closer to the plate.  Taller pitchers are effectively faster than their MPH, as compared to other pitchers, IMO.  Considering both the length of the stride and the reach of the arm, if the ball is released a foot closer to the plate than where other pitchers release it, that's close to a 2% reduction in the distance the ball travels.  That's significant, IMO.

[Ripken]

I thought this was a great throw in to a trade I really liked at just Cole for Hernaiz.  Huge starters always have interest as future bullpen pieces.  Kid looks athletic.  If some combo of getting stronger, tweaking mechanics, and not worrying about pitching several innings can add a couple mph, he could become very useful.  

[Frobby]

 

[bobmc]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:42 PM, Frobby said:

I listened to the podcast shown in his twitter feed and came away impressed with his mental approach to the game and his workout routines.  He has some interesting takes on the rules changes and the automated strike zone.  Give it a listen.