Tuesday, April 27, 2010
High on: Mike Leake
Posted by Derek Carty at 5:17amMike Leake is a player I find very interesting at this point in the season. We all know that he's the first pitcher in a very long time to skip the minors entirely, and despite being a top draft pick, he isn't said to have top-notch stuff. In addition, his 2010 resume is quite strange. He has a 3.92 ERA, courtesy of two seemingly dominant (though lucky) starts and one seemingly terrible (though unlucky) start:
+-----+----+---+----+-----+ | IP | ER | K | BB | GB% | +-----+----+---+----+-----+ | 6.2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 33% | | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 62% | | 7.0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 70% | +-----+----+---+----+-----+
The combination of these three starts has left Leake with an unspectacular 5.7 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9. His 3.92 ERA might be enough for owners in some leagues to buy into him, but his 4.78 xFIP could leave owners in savvier leagues passing on Leake. Still, I feel as though this Reds rookie has some very redeemable qualities.
First, while he's been called a "No. 3 starter," scouts seemed to really like him, especially his pitchability and his command. Some even like his raw stuff, like prospect expert John Sickels, who had this to say when Leake was drafted:
While some might consider Arizona State RHP Mike Leake an overdraft at eighth overall, I don't; I think that's an excellent pick. He has very good stuff, and his excellent pitchability makes it all play up.
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The slider is insane, getting more than 5 inches of horizontal movement. Very few pitchers are able to generate that kind of movement on their sliders. It's probably not quite at the level of a Zack Greinke or CC Sabathia or Jake Peavy, but it is quite good (and in terms of actual effectiveness, it's generating 22 percent whiffs—roughly what Greinke got on his last year). His curve also seems to be a bit of an underrated pitch, generating between 5 and 10 inches of both vertical and horizontal movement.
The combination of good stuff paired with the scouts' raves about his pitchability tells me that, yes, Leake does indeed appear to be ready for the big leagues despite not having thrown a pitch in the minors yet. His stuff is very conducive to generating ground balls, and his secondary offerings should allow him to post an above-average strikeout rate. Because scouts have always made note of his stellar control, and because he showed this during his most recent outing, I'm not going to freak out about the 5.7 BB/9 thus far. He's also been able to find the strike zone at a slightly above league average rate thus far (49.7%), which should only improve and, at the very least, paints a rosier picture than his BB/9 does.
Oliver sees Leake posting a 3.68 ERA the rest of the way, and while that might be a little optimistic, an ERA around 4.00 (with significant upside) certainly seems attainable. I bought Leake during the first week of the season in both LABR and Tout Wars, and I'll continue to start him and expect good things. While I'd take a guy like Colby Lewis over Leake, you might have a hard time finding a better under-the-radar pitcher available on your mixed league waiver wire. And if he's still somehow available in an NL-only league, go get him now.
Derek Carty, 23, has also been published by NBC's Rotoworld, Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports, and USA Today. This season, he'll be contributing to FanDuel and will be linking to all of his work at DerekCarty.com. In his three years competing in expert leagues, he has won 2 titles with 4 top three finishes, including a LABR NL title in 2009, making him the youngest person to ever win a major expert league title. Derek is a proud graduate of the MLB Scouting Bureau's Scout Development Program and is a firm believer in the importance of combining stats and scouting. He welcomes questions via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter.
Love the article. In a rare move, I picked up Leake immediately following his first start after simply watching the highlights on MLB. Didn’t know anything about him, but he looked in control (despite the walks) and seemed extremely poised for someone with no minor league experience. Could very well get rocked a time or two this season, but he looks polished and ready to pitch well. To date I think he has the only “W” on the Reds staff, which says more about the Reds than Leake probably. Could you forward your article to Dusty Baker?