Pete Van Loon 2024

[Aristotelian]

I couldn't find a thread on this guy. 16th round draft pick in 2021. Has had consistently high K rates but not much else until this year. Seems to be putting it together in AA this year with 13.3 K/9 to 3.7 BB/9 in 27 IP after a stint on the 60 day DL. What's made the difference is dropping his H/9 from 9.6 to 5.3, resulting in a 2.33 ERA.

Looks like a Suarez-ish approach with FBs high in the zone along with 12-6 overhand curveball and maybe a cutter.

He could be Rule 5'ed in Dec '24. Could he be promoted to AAA in September and then be added in the offseason as a potential bullpen arm? 

 

 

 

 

[Triple Crown]

Would love to see him succeed at higher levels, but I watched yesterday and a lot of his K’s came on swings at breaking balls well out of the zone. So, I’m not sure it’ll play at the highest level. The announcer was saying his fastball was at 91, just not sure the stuff works as he climbs the ladder

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

I couldn't find a thread on this guy. 16th round draft pick in 2021. Has had consistently high K rates but not much else until this year. Seems to be putting it together in AA this year with 13.3 K/9 to 3.7 BB/9 in 27 IP after a stint on the 60 day DL. What's made the difference is dropping his H/9 from 9.6 to 5.3, resulting in a 2.33 ERA.

Looks like a Suarez-ish approach with FBs high in the zone along with 12-6 overhand curveball and maybe a cutter.

He could be Rule 5'ed in Dec '24. Could he be promoted to AAA in September and then be added in the offseason as a potential bullpen arm? 

 

 

 

 

Good call on the Suarez comp.  Big dude with a "heavy" fastball.  We need some of these guys like McDermott, Young, Van Loon, etc... to at least develop into replacements for Baker and Tate.  Up/down guys as a floor would be nice.  

[Frobby]

He’s been mentioned a few times in @RZNJ’s Under the Radar thread.  

[Tony-OH]

I just don't see it. I actually went and watched his performance yesterday and don't see a major league outpitch. I only got one velocity reading from the announcers at 91 MPH, and his fastball did not garner a lot of swing and miss. Despite the high strike out numbers, I see more bad hitters than I do anything special about Van Loon's stuff. I didn't see a lot of swing and miss on stuff in the zone.

He's a four-pitch guy, fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. The changeup is more a "foshball" that is more like a loopy offspeed pitch that dives down. He doesn't have very good command of the pitch, but he does get some swing and miss below the zone. the curveball and slider are both below average in movement and consistency, but he does throw them enough around the strike zone that batters have to adjust for different shapes and speed.

I know the numbers look good, and if he had more velocity then maybe you could hope upon him a bit, but I'm guessing he turns into Armbruester in AAA. For the life of me I can't figure out how that stuff is working, even in AA. 

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I just don't see it. I actually went and watched his performance yesterday and don't see a major league outpitch. I only got one velocity reading from the announcers at 91 MPH, and his fastball did not garner a lot of swing and miss. Despite the high strike out numbers, I see more bad hitters than I do anything special about Van Loon's stuff. I didn't see a lot of swing and miss on stuff in the zone.

He's a four-pitch guy, fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. The changeup is more a "foshball" that is more like a loopy offspeed pitch that dives down. He doesn't have very good command of the pitch, but he does get some swing and miss below the zone. the curveball and slider are both below average in movement and consistency, but he does throw them enough around the strike zone that batters have to adjust for different shapes and speed.

I know the numbers look good, and if he had more velocity then maybe you could hope upon him a bit, but I'm guessing he turns into Armbruester in AAA. For the life of me I can't figure out how that stuff is working, even in AA. 

Whenever I see an analysis like this, it reminds me of a Tom Glavine anecdote from Living on the Black.  When Glavine was in AA, he’d developed a change up that was very effective against AA hitters.  A Braves scout went to a game where he stuck out about 13 batters, many on change-ups in the dirt.   After the game, the scout asked Glavine what he thought his best pitch was, and he confidently said it was his change-up.  “Yeah?  Well that pitch stinks!  If you try that in the majors, the hitters aren’t going to swing until you throw it in the strike zone, and then they’re going to cream it!”   Glavine dismissed the scout as a know-nothing curmudgeon. The next game, he threw his change-up in the zone to Bo Jackson, who hit it about “9 million miles.”  And Glavine immediately started working on a new change-up.   

[Tony-OH]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Whenever I see an analysis like this, it reminds me of a Tom Glavine anecdote from Living on the Black.  When Glavine was in AA, he’d developed a change up that was very effective against AA hitters.  A Braves scout went to a game where he stuck out about 13 batters, many on change-ups in the dirt.   After the game, the scout asked Glavine what he thought his best pitch was, and he confidently said it was his change-up.  “Yeah?  Well that pitch stinks!  If you try that in the majors, the hitters aren’t going to swing until you throw it in the strike zone, and then they’re going to cream it!”   Glavine dismissed the scout as a know-nothing curmudgeon. The next game, he threw his change-up in the zone to Bo Jackson, who hit it about “9 million miles.”  And Glavine immediately started working on a new change-up.   

Good story, and it's true. While minor league performance is a tool to use, ultimately a good scout can see the stuff and command and know what will or will not work at the major league level. You can get a lot of chase strikeouts with certain pitches against poor hitters, but major league hitters a different beast. 

You may fool them once with something, but if the stuff is not quality or they realize you can't or won't throw it for strikes, they will ignore the pitch. He reminds me of Pham (who I like more than Van Loon), who will go through streaks of pitching well and getting K's, but you look at the stuff and go, "eh".  

 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Tony-OH said:

Good story, and it's true. While minor league performance is a tool to use, ultimately a good scout can see the stuff and command and know what will or will not work at the major league level. You can get a lot of chase strikeouts with certain pitches against poor hitters, but major league hitters a different beast. 

You may fool them once with something, but if the stuff is not quality or they realize you can't or won't throw it for strikes, they will ignore the pitch. He reminds me of Pham (who I like more than Van Loon), who will go through streaks of pitching well and getting K's, but you look at the stuff and go, "eh".  

 

Do you think that might be an issue with Povich?  It has always seemed to me that his K numbers were a lot better than his "stuff" would indicate.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He reminds me of Pham (who I like more than Van Loon), who will go through streaks of pitching well and getting K's, but you look at the stuff and go, "eh".  

 

I’m sorry to hear that about Pham, who’d climbed back onto my radar screen by lowering his ERA each month this season. I saw him on one televised game this spring and liked his poise and command.  But I’m not qualified to watch a pitcher succeed and make judgments about what will work at higher levels, except in extreme cases like Grayson Rodriguez.  

[orioles22]

I've not seen him pitch in person, but I've followed VanLoon for a couple of years and had high hopes he could help at some point. He was in control yesterday and was taken out with a lead after 4 1/3 and didn't get the win.

[Aristotelian]

5 shutout innings last night, 2.66 ERA with 11.6 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 2.9 K/BB on the season. Hit Driveline in the offseason and see what he can do in AAA with an extra mph or two?