Prospect Report: Mike Stutes
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Thu, August 07, 2008 11:25 AM | Comments: 24
Posts
Name: Mike Stutes
Position: RHP
Height: 6 feet, 1 inch
Weight: 185 pounds
Birthday: Sept. 4, 1986 (21 years old)
Drafted: 11th Round, 2008 First-Year Player Draft
Class: A Lakewood
Stutes has quickly become one of the Phils’ most pleasant stories on the farm. Drafted in June from Oregon State, Stutes had a huge 12-strikeout game for class-A Lakewood last night. With the 4-0 shutout, he has improved to 3-0 in the South Atlantic League. He has given up just one run on seven hits in his 19 innings, striking out 24. To be short, he has dominated the young leagues.
Before Lakewood he pitched for short-season Williamsport. There he went 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 27 innings (six starts). He says he’s been locating his fastball well on both sides of the plate, while also featuring a curveball, a slider and changeup.
Prospects: It’s way too early to jump onto the Stutes-to-Majors bandwagon. Obviously the kid needs to go through Clearwater and Reading — where hitting is much better and the players are practically all his age, so we won’t get any bit of a real read on him until May or so. Since he was a college senior from the draft, he could be tracked quickly up the ladder, long as he continues his fantastic K rates. Optimistically, we’ll peg him as a July 2009 call-up, a la Kyle Kendrick. More realistically, he could get his first sniff of the Majors in September 2009, if he’s good enough.
Posts: 0 Geoff
Im a big fan of taking college players with sandwich picks and actually almost anything past the first round because they can be ready for you quickly. the first rd guy in baseball should be the guy with the most upside, and those guys often are younger and take longer to develop.
the better college relievers are ready to come up either right away or within a year. college starters and position players take one-two years seemingly.
Posted: 11:30 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
college players are usually past where they would have arm problems… if your mechanics are good enough to get you through college, you usually know what oyu are doing.
lets see this guy at Clearwater… then if he tears it up… bump him to Reading next year
Posted: 11:34 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Tim Lincecum made only 10 minor league starts before playing in a Giants uniform. Maybe Stutes can move up through the system fast too(not Lincecum fast obviously.)
Posted: 11:48 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
hell be in clearwater by the end of the year.
Posted: 11:53 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Eb
Nice piece Tim…Definately this guy can potentially make it here next september. Along with age and maturity, the other plus is he has 4 pitches.
Guys like Kendrick can scare me (dont get me wrong I think Kendrick can be a good pitcher, Sinkballers take 2-3 years to develop) because of only having 3 pitches, especially when one of them is not developed (change up). Having 4 pitches already that are average to Plus, is a great start.
…Note Cole Hammels does not scare me because the change up is such a dominating pitch, that he can get by with only three pitches. Also if you have $5 and Cole Hammels has $5 , Cole has more Money then you
Posted: 11:54 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
i really think hamels needs another pitch, a slider, that will complete him and take him to the next level. the most patient hitters/most experienced hitters, recognize the changeup and lay off it.
Posted: 11:56 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Santana developed a slider later in his career.
Posted: 11:58 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
thats why i like colllege pitchers/players. theyre already like 3/4 of the way to being fully mlb-ready. they need a year or two in the minors tops.
anthony hewitt will be good probably, but hes so far away, like 3-4 years away, that can you really tell?
Posted: 11:58 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
thats exactly who i was thinking of phil. santanas slider is nasty too
Posted: 11:59 AM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Richie
Santana seemed to do just fine with that changeup, fastball, occasional breaking ball throughout his career. Cole looks like he is heading down the same path. Cole’s change is just flat-out nasty.
Posted: 12:00 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Kid has a nice curve, too, and the fastball tops in the low-mid 90s, so he has the stuff. He ain’t no Lincecum, but maybe could project as a No. 3 or 4.
Posted: 12:01 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Richie
I like drafting college pitchers, but am a little more skeptical when it comes to college position players. College pitchers had to face metal bats, College position players got to use them. So, the pitchers now get a relief with the wooden bats and the position players have to adjust. Ya know what I mean?
Posted: 12:03 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
i still think you need more than 3 pitches as a starter to be elite nowadays. i see with the college hitters, thats a good point.
Posted: 12:05 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Rick
Doesn’t Carrasco project as a 3 too? How many projected 3/4/5 type guys do we have now? Why can’t we ever get that one shining star ACE type guy? Do we have any farmhands at the lower levels who project as a potential 1 or 2?
Also, I heard during one of the broadcasts that the Phils have a really good potential shortstop in the minors somewhere (not Jason Donald). Like potentially Reyes/Rollins good. Is this true?
They might have said he was at Lakewood, but I checked out their roster and didn’t really see anyone with glaring numbers.
Posted: 12:09 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 CZ
I’d like to see them jump this guy to Clearwater but with Lakewood actually playing well they may keep him there for the playoff push. I guess the thrill of playing for something must be good for the young players because they tend to use this excuse quite often.
Posted: 12:17 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
They always project them lower than they are because the organization doesnt place the correct valu eon pitching
Posted: 01:12 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 christopher
my impression of carrasco is that if he realizes his full potential, he’ll be a solid #2.
Posted: 02:07 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 TJ
This is awesome stuff to hear about, good stuff Tim.
Posted: 02:25 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 philsphan
Rick, I believe that SS you are talking about is Freddy Galvis. He is along way away from the majors (he’s 18) but the Phillies see him as the SS of the future. Take that as you wish. But I have heard that his defense is excellent and ML-ready. He’s not hitting too well in Lakewood, but he has plenty of time to work on that.
Posted: 02:45 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 John
I saw Stutes pitch a gem on Wednesday in Hagerstown, Md. He was dominant. He pitched well with runners in scoring position. I walked away from that game very impressed. His fastball was electric.
Posted: 11:33 PM on August 7, 2008
Posts: 0 Rick
phan – thanks! I saw him on their roster and his hitting numbers certainly didn’t blow me away. That’s why I didn’t really consider that he could be the player that they were discussing. Good to know!
I’m going to try to get to a Blueclaws game while on vacation in a couple weeks. I’ll keep an eye on him. He is very young so we can hope the bat will come around eventually.
Posted: 07:35 AM on August 8, 2008
Posts: 0 nick
mike looks great, last night he went 7inn i think with only 1 hit 6 k’s so hes 4-0 with like a 0.35 ERA! If they go on the regular days rest he should be pitching sunday afternoon vs Charleston RiverDogs(ny yankees) at home at 5:05 i believe. not 100% sure if he would pitch but that should be his next start. Great guy to i met him monday night , so nice he signed a baseball and put 06-07 national champs and a bunch of stuff for me. Great guy on and off the field….Hopefully start the season next year in Clearwater( High A) stay for about a month and go to reading and be in philly by september.
Posted: 11:25 PM on August 13, 2008
Posts: 0 Jack
I saw Mike pitch 2 games in 07 CWS.
He is very gutsy pitcher.
Posted: 10:52 PM on May 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Vernita Ottilige
Not residing. Staying within our personal homes living alone.
Posted: 05:26 AM on June 29, 2010