We are on the cusp of a new era in Cincinnati as the team is bound to ship out a handful of veterans over the following days. This shift allows RedsNation to speculate on the future bookends of the franchise. One of the players that really intrigues me is the young Cuban import Raisel Iglesias.
The 25-year-old right-hander tossed six innings of four-run ball last night in St. Louis as the Reds fell 4-1. Iglesias gave up all four Cardinals runs on one grand swing from St. Louis' Kolten Wong. It hasn't been a pretty rookie year for Iglesias as he's only pitched into the sixth inning twice in seven starts while carrying 5.53 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. But the more detailed numbers suggest he's got a chance to become a valuable piece of the future rotation.
Iglesias is striking out batters at a very high rate (9.3 K/9) and walking batters at a reasonable rate (2.88 BB/9). I decided to compare Iglesias' rookie year to former Reds extraordinaire Johnny Cueto. Cueto's progression was a joy to witness as the raw, stocky flamethrower evolved into one of the best pitchers in the game. Let's take a look at Cueto's 2008 rookie year and match it up with Iglesias this season (numbers from FanGraphs).
2008 Cueto — 31 starts, 174 innings (5.6 innings/start), 8.17 K/9, 3.52 BB/9, 1.5 HR/9, .298 BABIP
2015 Iglesias — 7 starts, 40.2 innings (5.7 innings/start), 9.3 K/9, 2.88 BB/9, .89 HR/9, .355 BABIP
Really interesting similarities and differences that favor Iglesias in a small sample from the rookie. Both had difficulties making their way through the lineup a third time, but the numbers favor Iglesias outside of a fluky .355 BABIP. Iglesias should be able to accumulate a total of 20 starts by the end of this season so I would expect that BABIP number to trend back down, especially with his ability to miss bats. Age was on Cueto's side, though, as Iglesias is in his 25-year-old season and Cueto was 22 as a rookie.
As for my favorite Iglesias/Cueto stat, according to FanGraphs Iglesias has thrown seven different pitches this year (four-seam, two-seam, sinker, cutter, slider, curveball, change-up). Cueto has actually thrown all seven of those pitches in 2015 too. But in Cueto's 2008 season he threw four pitches. It took Cueto years to learn and comfortably throw all of those pitches in order to keep opposing hitters off balance. Iglesias has seemingly already reached that level of comfortability with his repertoire. Now, obviously Iglesias has much more work to do to reach Cueto's current status as an ace, but he certainly has the talent. What made Cueto great was his ability to pitch to the game plan and not just throw it by every hitter.
What I really like about Iglesias is his ability to throw six to seven pitches at varying speeds and arm angles. Give him the opportunity to learn the Major League game and refine his control and this youngster has a great chance to carve out a nice career as a Red.
No comments:
Post a Comment