Nolan Hoffman has 15 straight scoreless IP in AAA. What do we make of him?

[sportsfan8703]

I heard the pregame team raving about him on 105.7 the other day. 12+ K/9, no HR allowed, .389 BABIP. Sidearm action a little. Lots of GB. 

We got him with the first overall selection in the milb portion of the Rule 5 draft a few years ago. 

Up/down type reliever next year?
 

[interloper]

I'm glad someone in that Norfolk bullpen is doing something. Seems like an option if we need him.

[RZNJ]

Good thread.  I hadn’t realized he was on a roll like this.  Hopefully, he keeps it up.  Definitely an option this year and next.

[sportsfan8703]

52 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Good thread.  I hadn’t realized he was on a roll like this.  Hopefully, he keeps it up.  Definitely an option this year and next.

Yup. So what I’m thinking is he’s always going to carry a high BABIP because he induces a lot of grounders. That’s .349 in AAA. How much does that go down with our elite IF defense?

No homers allowed. In fact, he’s only given up 17 fly balls in 28.1 IP this season. 

 

[7Mo]

2 bad outings in May but otherwise, he's been good for 2 months.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Definitely a potential up/down righty on righty option behind Tate. Definite 40 man add this off-season if he keeps it up.

[OsFanInOhio]

I’ve been intrigued by him since we drafted him. The k rate and ground ball rate is nice. Still a pretty high walk rate (5+ per 9). I wouldn’t mind him getting a look at some point, similar to krook, just to see how his stuff plays. We don’t have a ton of high k guys in the pen. His ability to provide length isn’t a bad thing either. 

[Tony-OH]

More of a right-handed sidearmer specialist, he has to be pretty pinpoint in his location to defend himself against lefties. He's a sinker, curveball guy (occasional change) who has some late movement and seems to keep himself off the barrels for the most part, but nothing is plus. 

Because he comes from an orthodox angle, he gives batters a different look than they're used to seeing, but I just don't see him as much more than an up down guy who you can use in low leverage. His 54% GB rate is ok, but that will go down at the major league level, so it's not like he'd be a huge ground ball guy there.

[wildcard]

Nice that he is on a streak but he has to do a lot more to be protected this off season.  His 1.624 WHIP needs to go down substantially.

Edited yesterday at 13:43 by wildcard

[RZNJ]

3 hours ago, wildcard said:

Nice that he is on a streak but he has to do a lot more to be protected this off season.  His 1.624 WHIP needs to go down substantially.

Did someone mention protecting him?

[sportsfan8703]

5 hours ago, wildcard said:

Nice that he is on a streak but he has to do a lot more to be protected this off season.  His 1.624 WHIP needs to go down substantially.

It’s hard to judge relievers by overall numbers. If you’re thinking about calling them up then you need to look at what have you done lately. Baker, Vespi, Suarez, and Means, all looked much better than their AAA overall stat line. 

The thing I like about Hoffman is that he’s going multiple innings now. I’d protect him, and with the way we’re developing guys we won’t have to hit the waiver wire for depth unless we really like a player. 

[Frobby]

I saw him pitch at Bowie last year and he didn't strike me as anything special.  But, players develop, so we'll see.