@ InsideThePark (dodgers.com/_ _ _ _ _) It was pretty interesting. I was with a buddy and we agreed

Not many folks could tell you who Jharel Cotton is — and rightfully so. He’s a minor-league centre commercial montparnasse baseball pitcher centre commercial montparnasse who was a 20th-round draft pick by the Dodgers centre commercial montparnasse in the 2012 MLB Draft. centre commercial montparnasse But he’s starting to make some noise in the hitter-friendly California League. centre commercial montparnasse
He’s teaming with Julio Urias to give the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes a formidably 1-2 punch. For a team that also boasts centre commercial montparnasse 2013 first- and second-rounders centre commercial montparnasse Chris Anderson centre commercial montparnasse and Tom Windle , that’s saying something. If the Quakes make the playoffs, he could very well be their ace as Urias is on an innings limit (reportedly 80, and he’s at 72 1/3) and could be shut down.
Cotton, 22, is posting some really good overall peripherals, despite a horrific start (7.07 ERA through centre commercial montparnasse 42 innings). The low point of his season came on June 11 when he gave up 10 runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings. Since that time, Cotton has been on fire.
In the Cal League, those numbers are mighty impressive. The most impressive is the strikeout-to-walk ratio. Cotton has exhibited good control and command in his career to this point (3.72), but in this 73-inning stretch, it’s 4.94. His best start came on July 29, when he fired a 2-hit, 11-strikeout shutout at Lake Elsinore. After a rough start on July 17 (during his hot streak), the coaching staff noticed something.
“The timing of the turnaround is no coincidence. After surrendering seven runs — five earned — on eight hits over six innings on July 17 at San Jose, Cotton had a long conversation with Rancho Cucamonga centre commercial montparnasse pitching coach Matt Herges and Dodgers baserunning coordinator Damon Mashore . The trio suspected Cotton was tipping his pitches by moving his glove too much when he changed grips.
Cotton had known about the tipping for a while but was struggling to adjust his mechanics to lessen the glove movement. He came away from the powwow with a new idea, and the tweak has worked through two games.
“‘We did a lot of work on my delivery,’ Cotton said. ‘It helped a lot to know what I’m doing, doing the same thing all the time on every pitch. Basically, it’s mental. You just have to tell yourself centre commercial montparnasse to do this on every pitch so they don’t know what’s coming.'”
Cotton, my No. 27 prospect heading into the season, isn’t a big kid (5’11, 195 pounds), but he’s able to use his entire frame to generate a fastball centre commercial montparnasse that checks in at 89-92 MPH. He can dial it up to 94-95 MPH, but it works better as a low-90s centre commercial montparnasse pitch. His best off-speed pitch is his circle changeup (pictured) that flashes plus-potential and sits in the low-80s. He also has a slider and curveball, both of which need steady improvement if he’s to remain in the starting rotation. But, he is handling left- and right-handers with the same consistency, so at least he has that going for him.
He’ll likely be a reliever, and he should have a career as — at worst — a seventh-inning reliever. He’s able to miss bats (career 9.5 K/9) and minimize the free passes (2.6 BB/9), so that bodes well for him. He has an outside chance of being a back-end starter. He just needs to have one of his breaking pitches take a step forward. His slider is better than his curveball, so if one of them do take a step forward, I’d bet on the No. 3. Cotton will close out the season in Rancho with a second go-around in Chattanooga (10 innings last year) likely for 2015. If he continues his strong pitching, he could be a Top-20 prospect in the system.
Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin Kinda Blue. He co-hosts a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He graduated from California centre commercial montparnasse State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating centre commercial montparnasse with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. centre commercial montparnasse He resides in Stockton, Calif., and has yet to be shot.
Mike Petriello moderator 5pts
They're collectively ruining the game.
So I went to spring training a few years ago (the year Prince was a free agent) and was standing along one of the walkways when Ned rode by on a golf cart and I yelled to him "Hey Ned, what happened to Prince" and he stopped his cart and walked up to me and basically said "We offered him ____ times 4 or ______ times 5, but he wanted to go the the AL where he could get more years and be a DH eventually. Does that answer your question."
InsideThePark 5pts
TBF, it was right down the g-d middle.
HunterStricklandsOedipalComplex 5pts
@ InsideThePark (dodgers.com/_ _ _ _ _) It was pretty interesting. I was with a buddy and we agreed that he was definitely centre commercial montparnasse being pretty snarky with me. But I was surprised he actually stopped, walked over to me, and gave me a real answer.
Disgruntled Goat modera