Mound Talk

When the Brewers drafted the six-foot, 175 pound Jeremy Jeffress in the first round of the 2006 draft, he wasn’t exactly what fans had in mind. At the time, the Brewers were in a bit of a pitching quandry. With Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka on the DL, the Crew could have used a more developed, quick-fix college arm. Fast-forward seven months and the Brewers have more pitching than they know what to do with and despite a good start in Spring Training, Carlos Villanueva is in the bullpen, Zack Jackson and Yovanni Gallardo are in Triple-A, and the rotation is anchored by Ben Sheets, Chris Capuano and veteran Jeff Suppan. With that depth, the Brewers aren’t in a position to need any production out of the 16th overall selection at the Major League level.

Jeffress, widely considered a project, is a flame-thrower with many classic signs of a high-risk, high-reward high school arm. Though his development over the last 12 months has not resulted in excellent numbers, there is more to scouting players than the statistics. In Rookie League last season, Jeffress threw 33 2/3 innings in 13 appearances. He struck out 37 while walking 25. His ERA, for what it’s worth, was 5.88. Ultimately, his numbers suggest a major problem that is only complimented by watching him. His likely destination for 2007 was Rookie Ball in Helena but after impressing the Brewers in Spring Training, Jeffress stayed in extended Spring Training and was recently sent to Low-A, West Virginia.

In West Virginia Jeffress has been far from outstanding but shows considerable strides over the his production in Rookie Ball. In four games he has thrown 18 2/3 innings allowing just 14 hits. He’s walked 9 and rather surprisingly only struck out 14. He’s allowed three earned runs and two unearned runs to cross  the plate and generally been effective.

Jeffress has an arsenal of pitches that show promise but are still underdeveloped. For him to be an effective starter, he’ll need to bring two of his secondary pitches to be average and one of those two to become a plus pitch.

His fastball sits in the upper 90s. He can generally work in the 95-98 range but has been able to dial it up to 102 at times. He can have trouble maintaining velocity. He has good movement and primarily works off his fastball. His fastball has the potential to be one of the best of all prospects. He needs to settle in and learn to command his fastball before it truely becomes an elite pitch, though the potential is evident.

Beyond his fastball, he’ll throw a below average change. The biggest concern with his change is the location. He throws it well and deciptively but, like all of his secondary stuff, he’ll struggle with location.

Jeffress will also throw a hard breaking slider that sits in the upper 70s or lower 80s. The break is sharp and again, deceptive, but command is a concern. He struggles to throw this pitch for strikes and that’s when he’ll get into trouble.

Perhaps the biggest reason to be high on Jeffress is his mechanics. He has a nice, fluid delivery that should be well suited to help him with the command issues he has. He is an athletic young man with a pretty good body. At six-foot he’s a little shorter than most pitchers but he has good hips, slightly longer than average arms and a good head on his shoulders. He’s got a lot of good things going for him but remains a project.

The future for Jeffress is wide open. There’s a good chance that he’ll be converted to a closer, especially with concerns about his inability to maintain velocity into the game, but for the moment, Milwuakee will try him as a starter in Low-A. He’ll spend the duration of 2007 in West Virginia and should be sent to High-A, Brevard County for 2008 with the possibility of a jump to Double-A Huntsville at the All-Star Break.