Skaggs extremely overrated IMO

[Billy_Ball]

Grahe had the oddest windup, like he was putting every square inch of his body into his pitch...and it only topped at 85 mph.  He did have a decent 1992 as closer though (21 saves), but with only 39 Ks in 94 IP.

 

[Troll Daddy]

After further review this morning ... Skaggs looked good ... just left a couple of meatballs over the plate. First one looked like a hanging curve ball. 

 

[ettin]

12 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

Most of us all hope and think that ... it’s not like you standing on that limb all alone. 

Hard to tell from this thread but pass me a beer.

[Lou]

6 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

After further review this morning ... Skaggs looked good ... just left a couple of meatballs over the plate. First one looked like a hanging curve ball. 

 

Jackie Kennedy loved her trip to Texas, other than the stop in Dallas. 

[Lou]

17 hours ago, totdprods said:

He was 20 GS in to his age 22 season when it happened at the break. He would've pulled a typical 30 GS otherwise.

When he returned his age 24 season, he had already logged 9 starts at AAA and was healthy until the last month, and still managed to pull in ~20 starts on the year between AAA/bigs.

Last year, he was on track before and after his oblique injury, which could have happened to anyone. Just rotten luck and maybe bad conditioning. 

His injury-prone label is a little amplified (note that I'm not saying is misconstrued) simply because of his age and the severity of TJS coupled with something like an oblique. Those injuries would knock any starter out for similar time. Just so happened Tyler had it his first year back. 

When it occurs every year, the injury-prone label is well-deserved. 

[Dtwncbad]

Lou's point was so good he had to repeat it twice.

[Lou]

23 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

Most of us all hope and think that

there you go

[Lou]

23 hours ago, Tyler said:

What hype?

From 2013:

EVERY MLB TEAM'S TOP PROSPECT THAT IT CAN BUILD AROUND 

Arizona Diamondbacks: Tyler Skaggs 

1 OF 30

The Arizona Diamondbacks have a wealth of solid pitching prospects in their farm system, including Archie Bradley, David Holmberg and Zeke Spruill.

But the best of the bunch just could be 21-year-old southpaw Tyler Skaggs.

Ranked as the 10th-best overall prospect in baseball, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, Skaggs was outstanding at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season, posting a 2.87 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 22 starts.

He debuted at the major league level on Aug. 22, earning the victory over the Miami Marlins with 6.2 innings of two-run ball. Skaggs finished the season with a 5.83 ERA in six starts, but fatigue was likely a factor in the final weeks.

Skaggs has a fastball, curve and changeup that can all be plus pitches. He could very well front the Diamondbacks rotation and set an example as an anchor for the rest of the Arizona pitching staff in the future.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Lou

[floplag]

I think that depends entirely on your expectation at this point.   If he can fill the role of back end starter with decent numbers at this point id be happy.  The hype has long since passed. 

[zenmaster]

The only pitchers on our staff that I have ANY confidence in are G Rich and Shoe (can they stay healthy though?). Outside of them, our rotation is a huge question mark (Ohtani is a huge ? mark too of course). Lots of guys with potential and some short bursts of success but nothing worth of praise. I think many of us on this board overrate some of our pitchers because we saw them pitch a few good games from time to time (Skaggs/Heaney/Tropeano the main ones).

[JarsOfClay]

9 hours ago, Lou said:

Ranked as the 10th-best overall prospect in baseball, according to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, Skaggs was outstanding at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season, posting a 2.87 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 22 starts.

Hard to believe he was ever a top prospect.  Skaggs body is made of glass, he doesnt change speeds, no plus pitches, and lefties hit him almost as well as righties.  

That being said I think he can be good enough to be a #3 if he can add a 3rd pitch to his repertoire. If his change is no good, then why not try learning something else like the cutter, splitter, slider?

You have one of the best lefties in the organization in Mark Langston right there to help you out. Chuck Finley threw an amazing splitter.  I never really hear anything about Skaggs working on something new to improve his performance. It feels like he's just treading water every year and that's disappointing because he has potential.

 

 

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

41 minutes ago, JarsOfClay said:

Hard to believe he was ever a top prospect.  Skaggs body is made of glass, he doesnt change speeds, no plus pitches, and lefties hit him almost as well as righties.  

That being said I think he can be good enough to be a #3 if he can add a 3rd pitch to his repertoire. If his change is no good, then why not try learning something else like the cutter, splitter, slider?

You have one of the best lefties in the organization in Mark Langston right there to help you out. Chuck Finley threw an amazing splitter.  I never really hear anything about Skaggs working on something new to improve his performance. It feels like he's just treading water every year and that's disappointing because he has potential.

 

 

 

His Curve Ball is one of the better pitches in the game, it's a plus pitch. 

I agreed with you on the fact that he needs to add a third pitch and i think a cutter would be that pitch. Also, the few change-ups he threw last time out,  they looked much better with some good drop compare last year. I think that change is going to be the key for him and so far it's a small sample but it looks good.

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, JarsOfClay said:

You have one of the best lefties in the organization in Mark Langston right there to help you out. Chuck Finley threw an amazing splitter.  I never really hear anything about Skaggs working on something new to improve his performance. It feels like he's just treading water every year and that's disappointing because he has potential.

I brought it up once and everyone focused on the health/missed starts aspect instead of the actual point I was trying to make...
Skaggs debuted at 20, and missed his entire age 23 season, which is the same age that Langston, Washburn, and Finley all debuted. Skaggs came in a bit earlier than him. 

He's obviously had plenty of issues with his health...but when he's been on the mound, he's been on par with some of our best lefties and some peripherals indicate he could be just as good. He really hasn't been any markedly worse than any of them either - just injured. 

Between age 23*-25 seasons (*Skaggs age 22 was used since he was out age 23 with TJ):
K/9:
Langston 7.9
Skaggs 7.7
Finley 5.7
Washburn 5.6

BB/9: 
Skaggs 2.9
Washburn 3.7
Finley 4.0
Langston 5.1

H/9: 
Washburn 8.0
Langston 8.3
Finley 9.0
Skaggs 9.0

HR/9:
Finley 0.7
Langston 1.0
Skaggs 1.0
Washburn 1.4

WHIP:
Washburn 1.30
Skaggs 1.32
Finley 1.45
Langston 1.48

ERA:
Finley 4.18
Skaggs 4.36
Langston 4.43
Washburn 4.46

ERA+:
Washburn 110
Finley 96
Langston 93
Skaggs 89

FIP:
Finley 3.90
Skaggs 3.98
Langston 4.24
Washburn 5.14

All of those lefties had fantastic years their age 26 season and really had their careers turn a corner at that time. Hopefully Skaggs' age 26 season continues that pattern.
 

[ettin]

1 hour ago, JarsOfClay said:

Hard to believe he was ever a top prospect.  Skaggs body is made of glass, he doesnt change speeds, no plus pitches, and lefties hit him almost as well as righties.  

That being said I think he can be good enough to be a #3 if he can add a 3rd pitch to his repertoire. If his change is no good, then why not try learning something else like the cutter, splitter, slider?

You have one of the best lefties in the organization in Mark Langston right there to help you out. Chuck Finley threw an amazing splitter.  I never really hear anything about Skaggs working on something new to improve his performance. It feels like he's just treading water every year and that's disappointing because he has potential.

 

 

 

You realize there is a complete disconnect between the two bolded sentences, yes?

I don't think there is a GM alive that wouldn't be thrilled to have a top prospect turn into a #3 starter in the Majors to be honest.

Some other salient points:

1) Yes Skaggs has an injury history including Tommy John Surgery and an oblique strain. Not sure that you can classify him as a "body made of glass" but to each their own.

2) Tyler's fastball, change, and sinker were all considered plus pitches as he rose up in the Minor Leagues (see Lou's post for an example)

3) Skaggs' career pitch repertoire velocity is a 92.2 mph on his Fastball, 84.3 mph on his Change Up, and 76.4 mph on his Curve Ball, so I, for one, wouldn't characterize that as "doesn't change speeds".

Personally I still think Tyler's best days are ahead of him. Yes he has to prove this but with the two injuries running back to back he really hasn't had a chance to shine in my opinion.

We will see what happens.

[Lou]

On 2/28/2018 at 7:33 AM, zenmaster said:

The only pitchers on our staff that I have ANY confidence in are G Rich and Shoe (can they stay healthy though?)

I don't have much  confidence in Shoemaker.

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

I don't have much  confidence in Shoemaker.

In the pen, that splitter could be huge.

[Ohtaniland]

Thank you Jerry.

[Support The Local Team]

Skaggs has 2 pitches. One that he cannot command, and the other that get's rocked. Other than that, he is a future stud. 

 

[eligrba]

I agree.........pitching poorly is becoming more consistent for him.

[Ochocinco!]

Still sucks

[ten ocho recon scout]

On 2/27/2018 at 1:34 PM, hangin n wangin said:

Lou's point was so good he had to repeat it twice.

"Then there wasssss Tony "Lou Times", because he always said everything twice, like..."

[fan_since79]

I'm getting tired of Skaggs, but he's the only healthy lefthander in our rotation right now, so he'll probably be given some latitude.

The #1-5 in my mind right now are Richards, Shoemaker, Ohtani, Skaggs, Ramirez. Then we just have to find a healthy arm for #6 if we go that route. I haven't heard an update on Heaney.

 

[Torridd]

Why are so many down on Bridwell? Does everyone think he was just lucky last year and that his stuff doesn't play in the majors?

[101halo]

6 minutes ago, Torridd said:

Why are so many down on Bridwell? Does everyone think he was just lucky last year and that his stuff doesn't play in the majors?

All of the peripherals suggest he was. Low K rate, good BB rate, high HR rate, high LOB%. First year his BB walk wasn't bad, too. Just screams luck. Weaver was the same way, but his "luck" was backed up by his numbers in minors and held up in mlb for years. Parker's aren't, at least yet.  Would love to believe, but hard to in face of evidence to the contrary. 

[Torridd]

Well, I think, given the way he really picked up the team last year, that he deserves the first shot if/when we need a replacement. I think he deserves to prove 2017 wasn't a fluke.