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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Angels’ top prospect Nick Adenhart to make major-league debut

Because he can’t be any worse than Dustin Moseley…

Nick Adenhart, the 21-year-old right-hander who is the Angels’ top pitching prospect, will make his major league debut tonight against the A’s on three days rest.

Adenhart, who was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake after Wednesday night’s game, is 4-0 with an 0.87 earned-run average in five starts, including Sunday’s win over Fresno, in which he gave up an unearned run in eight innings and threw 98 pitches.

Scioscia said Adenhart, who underwent reconstructive elbow surgery as a high school senior in 2004, would probably make three starts in place of Dustin Moseley, who returned to the bullpen this week.

Adenhart, who mixes an excellent curve and changeup with his fastball, has appeared dominant this season but has struggled with his control, walking 15 and striking out 19 in 31 innings. He has not given up a home run.

still hunting for a halo-red october (in Delphi) Posted: May 01, 2008 at 05:11 AM | 13 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
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1. Shredder Posted: May 01, 2008 at 11:48 AM (#2764930)

I think I'd rather have Green on normal rest. On short rest, I think he'll get rocked.

2. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: May 01, 2008 at 11:54 AM (#2764940)

Wow, that's a pretty tough spot for a debut.

3. AROM Posted: May 01, 2008 at 12:07 PM (#2764951)

I don't like the short rest. Has Adenhart ever done that before?

Hopefully they'll at least put him on a strict pitch limit. Angels under Scioscia have been very good in keeping pitch counts down, rarely much over 100, but given the short rest it might be a good idea to limit Adenhart to 75-80. Even if that means he only pitches 3-4 innings while pitching well. His walks were a bit high last year and 15 in 31 innings is nothing to be proud of. You know the A's are going to be taking.

4. andrewberg Posted: May 01, 2008 at 12:21 PM (#2764963)

My fantasy league has a great proclivity for gobbling up highly touted pitchers before their debuts. I think it goes back to the year when Dontrelle Willis basically carried a team to the championship as a free 2nd or 3rd round caliber pitcher. But the more I look at Adenhart, the more I think I'll stand pat with Kevin Millwood at the end of my pitching ledger.

5. Shredder Posted: May 01, 2008 at 01:48 PM (#2765066)

Hopefully they'll at least put him on a strict pitch limit.

The starters have gone 15 innings the last two nights, so the pen should be rested. Plus Moseley's obviously available.

6. Rodder Posted: May 01, 2008 at 01:58 PM (#2765086)

Great, I am going to the game tonight! This should make it interesting. At first I was disappointed because I found out it was "College Night." I fear we might get stuck in the middle of a bunch of young drunks. Who knows, maybe we will be sitting around a bunch of kids discussing their latest Philosophy or Anthropology class.

7. Silencio Posted: May 01, 2008 at 02:14 PM (#2765143)

That K to BB ratio looks pretty bad.

8. Shredder Posted: May 01, 2008 at 02:17 PM (#2765155)

That K to BB ratio looks pretty bad.

He plays in the PCL, in Salt Lake City, elevation 4,200 feet. Check out how many home runs he's given up. Strikeouts aren't everything. In his minor league career, he's given up 10 home runs in 392 innings pitched.

Granted, three of his five starts have come on the road, but Las Vegas and Tucson aren't exactly sea level.

9. Shredder Posted: May 01, 2008 at 02:45 PM (#2765213)

Actually, without getting into things like gb/fb percentage and such, his strikeouts, walks, and homers compare pretty well with Brandon Webb (I'll grant that there may have been other things that Webb did exceptionally well that Adenhart doesn't. I'm not a very good researcher, nor do I have a boatload of time).

Minor league numbers: IP - SO - BB - HR
Webb: 357 - 323 - 125 - 13
Adenhart: 392 - 339 - 146 - 10

10. scareduck Posted: May 01, 2008 at 06:57 PM (#2765694)

I don't like the short rest. Has Adenhart ever done that before?

Don't know, but BA seems pretty skeptical he'll do well.

Edit: Adenhart pitched on two days' rest on June 22, 2006 after pitching one inning in the Midwest League's all-star game on June 20. He gave up two walks, nine hits, two runs (both earned), and struck out four in the former game.

11. Los Angeles Waterloo of Black Hawk Posted: May 01, 2008 at 09:02 PM (#2765900)

On Adenhart's SO:BB, remember, he's very young for his league. That of course speaks more his long-range prospects (very strong, imo) than to any projection for tonight.

But I'm with Halofan in the other thread; there's nothing to lose here. If he sucks, so what, Moseley sucks anyway, if he's good, so much the better. I don't think a bad outing would steer his development off-course.

12. Danny Posted: May 01, 2008 at 09:27 PM (#2765925)

It seems like a strange move for the Angels because Adenhart pitched on Sunday, the day after Moseley's last start. Either their opinion of Adenhart and/or Moseley changed since they let Adenhart throw 97 pitches on Sunday, or they just don't care about the short rest.

13. Halofan Posted: May 01, 2008 at 11:04 PM (#2765979)

This is WIN / WIN:

If he sucks, they pat him on the back and tell him he will be better with regular rest against KC next week. The low-offense A's are a good team to try this against and if Adenhart sucks the A's get Moseley in the middle innings instead of at the start of the game.

If he doesn't suck, hey hey, he beat the A's on three days rest.

(yes i said this on the other thread ... so allow me to say that tonight's College Night promotion at Angel Stadium should be crawling with babes which is why me and the missus are staying home! And it is ironic that Adenhart debuts on College Night after turning down college for the Angels).

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Thursday, May 01, 2008

Angels’ top prospect Nick Adenhart to make major-league debut

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