Asheville Tourists - Nick Schnaitmann

Nick Schnaitmann threw 7 solid innings and gave up 2 earned runs on 7 hits Tuesday night. Schnaitmann's tall (6'6) frame gives him a solid angle at which to deliver the fastball from. Smooth delivery from a 90 degree plane on the mound. Keeps the arm on the same plane with his right leg during delivery. High 80s to low 90s fastball that can touch mid 90s at times. When his pitching arm doesn't stay directly behind him he tends to lose a little bit of control. Delivery is fluid and appears effortless. Economical with his pitches and stays around the strike zone. Works ahead in the count, which allows him to utilize his slider. Slider has good movement and is his strike out pitch (3 Ks on the night). Arm action is pretty consistent through all of his pitches, but Schnaitmann elevated the off speed offerings which is where most of his against him came from. Pretty consistent from the stretch as well. Holds runners well for someone without a slide step and predictable delivery times. Similar build and delivery to Tommy Hanson of the Atlanta Braves. Spent second half of 2009 on Disabled List (DL), a set back that appears to be behind the 20 year old.

Shows poise and maturity so long as things are going well. Shows a loss of focus when defense makes and error or he gives up a solid hit on a good pitch. In his 2 losses on the year he has an ERA of 17.06 over 6.1 innings and in his 2 wins an ERA of 2.03 over 13.1 innings. Hitters are hitting .484 against him in those losses and .240 in the wins. If he has it going early as he did in his most recent start, then Schnaitmann should deliver a solid outing. However, if he gives up some hits early or struggles to find the strike zone, then he becomes shaky as exhibited in the previous stats and a WHIP (Walks/Hits per Innings Pitched) of 3.32 in his losses and a respectable 1.05 in the wins for an overall WHIP of 1.78. At only 20 years old, this should improve with time and experience.

Career parallels that of Hanson as well. Both were selected out of junior colleges in California in the 22nd round of their respective drafts (Hanson - 2005 & Schnaitmann - 2008). In an even more ironic twist, both were the 677th picks in those drafts. In 14 starts for the Rome Braves of the South Atlantic League in 2007, Hanson was 2-6 with an ERA of 2.59 before being called up.