Welcome back to the Minority Report. The past two Minor-ity Reports have focused on catching prospects. This edition will examine two young pitchers that may be destined for greatness.

 

1. David Price

 

If you thought that Scott Kazmir was the only fire-balling southpaw the Devil Rays have in their armamentarium, you would be wrong. Meet David Price. Price was drafted out of Vanderbilt University by Tampa Bay with the first overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft.  At age 21, Price stands 6’6 and weighs in at about 215 pounds. 

 

From 2005-2007 in the NCAA, David Price averaged a jaw-dropping 1.4 K/IP and miniscule 0.7 hits/IP. As we’ve discussed in prior installments of the Report, these are the litmus tests of a pitcher’s dominance. Perhaps what most set Price apart from his peers at the college level, was a dominance balanced by uncommonly great command. In 253 total innings pitched at Vanderbilt, Price surrendered only 74 base-on-balls. In fact, his overall WHIP in college was under 1.00.

 

With nothing left to prove at the college level, Price further bolstered his resume by becoming the ace of the USA Team's gold medal-winning squad that competed at the World University Championships in Cuba last summer. David Price posted a 0.20 ERA in eight starts, with a surreal 61 strikeouts and only seven walks in 44 innings, notching 5 victories for the squad along the way.

 

Scouts rave about Price.  Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison said of Price, "He's big, he's strong, he's athletic, he's left-handed. He has two plus pitches.” Harrison continued his praise of David Price, “He commands his fastball well, he competes, his character is unquestioned by those people that have been around him. He's a good top prospect." Asked to provide a scouting report on himself, Price had this to say, “"I like to throw my fastball and slider in any count. The changeup is my third pitch. I don't really use it, unless I really feel the need to use it. I throw my fastball to both sides of the plate. I like to locate that and move on to my secondary pitch.” Price certainly appears precocious in his approach to the game and how to control at-bats and keep opponents off the bases.

 

We can’t resist drawing a comparison to Mark Prior (not just because both were college phenoms with five-letter last names beginning with the letter P). Prior was drafted by Chicago with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2001 amateur draft. At 6’5 and at age 20, Prior had averaged just under 1.4 K/IP and 0.83 hits per inning-pitched. Compared to Prior, David Price posted a 1.4 K/IP or greater and 0.7 H/IP. Mark Prior was only Price’s superior in allowing a stingy 61 walks in 267 innings-pitched during his two year stint at USC. Both pitchers were standouts at every level and displayed supernatural dominance and command early in their development.

 

Unlike Prior, though, Price is a southpaw. There is a dearth of power lefties in the big leagues. That fact alone could compel the Rays toward an early call to Price. His extra year of collegiate seasoning and gold-medal performance for the USA Team could further contribute to a speedy ascent through the minor leagues for Tampa Bay. Devil Ray brass envisions David Price joining lefty mentor Scott Kazmir and fellow strikeout artist  James Shields sooner rather than later. We recommend keeping a watchful eye on the progression of this young, left-handed, flame-throwing star-in-the-making. His ETA for Tampa could be 2009 – or even 2008 if history repeats itself.

 

2. Will Inman

 

At just 20 years of age, this right handed starting pitcher took A+ and AA ball by storm in 2007. After being drafted in the third round, 85^th overall, in the 2005 amateur draft, the 18 year-old Inman made minor league batters look like little leaguers, averaging better than 1.22 K/IP with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. 

 

In 2006 in his first full season of pro-ball and in 110 innings, Inman posted a 1.71 ERA and averaged an eerily consistent 1.21 K/IP and 0.89 WHIP. Only surrendering 75 hits and 24 walks in those 110 IP, Inman’s ball seemed to miss a lot of bats, again.

 

Though 2006 was a hard act to follow, in 2007 the now 20 year-old Will Inman jumped three minor league levels with equal efficacy and poise. Inman began 2007 in A+ ball where he outdid himself with 1.25 K/IP and a 1.72 ERA in 78.2 frames. Milwaukee brass could no longer ignore his mastery of A ball, and promptly promoted Will Inman through two layers of AA ball.

 

With few exceptions, Inman continued his dominance in AA.  In AA ball, Inman racked up 80.2 IP where he featured a 1.02 K/IP ratio, 71 hits allowed and 35 walks for a 1.32 WHIP. What we found troublesome was the fact that although in 2005, 2006, and 2007 Inman allowed a sum total of 12 long balls in A+ ball and below, upon promotion, Inman promptly surrendered 13 homers in just 80.2 innings. Although Inman registered his consistently-stellar K’s and was as stingy as usual in the hits department, the spike in the number of walks and dingers will bear watching entering 2008.

 

With a phenomenal 2008 campaign and another round of promotions, it stands to reason that Will Inman could see major league action as either a starter (following in the footsteps of Yovani Gallardo) or as a swing-starter/long reliever for the Brew Crew down the stretch (along the lines of Carlos Villanueva) as early as 2008.

 

With additional seasoning and steady maturation, David Price and Will Inman could become front-of-the-rotation starting pitchers on the major league level. We look forward to watching these two young guns as they enter the 2008 season and make their bid for major league stardom.  

 

Copyright © 2007 Russell Sandman and Evan Rosen