Top Prospect
Alert - Jesse Foppert
DOB: 7/10/80, Age: 22, Height: 6’6’’, Weight:
210, Bats: R, Throws: R. Acquired: Giants -Drafted in the 2nd round of the
2000 Draft (U. of San Francisco). 2002 Stats: (AA - Shreveport) 3-3,
2.79 ERA, 61 IP, 44 H, 3 HR, 21 BB, 74 K; (AAA - Fresno) 3-6, 3.99 ERA, 79
IP, 71 H, 12 HR, 35 BB, 109 K. 2003 Stats: (AAA - Fresno) 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 5
IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 0 BB, 9 K; (Maj. - SF) 0-1, 9.00 ERA, 7 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 6
BB, 6 K.
Jesse Foppert is the latest
impact pitching prospect to break into the major leagues, picking up his
first big-league start just a few days ago. A consensus top 10 prospect,
Foppert has a diverse arsenal to throw at hitters, starting with a
fastball that is typically in the 91-94 mph range. He has reportedly
thrown as fast as 99 mph, but when I watched him the other night he was
actually in the 88-91 mph range, which is a minor cause for concern. His
splitter is a second plus pitch, and has proven to be an excellent pitch
with which to generate strikeouts. He also has a slider (above average), a
curve (average), and a changeup (developing). He is clearly dominant much
of the time, with fantastic strikeout rates (better than 9.0 at all 3
levels prior to this season) at every step of his relatively brief pro
career to this point. However, his walk rates border on problematic
(between 3.0-4.0), and his HR rate at Fresno last season (1.37) was
disturbing for a pitcher with his stuff, and he was at 0.9 HR/9 in 2001 as
a 21 year old in Rookie ball, a level that he truly should have dominated
as a high-level prospect, so the issue is not a new one for him. His
mechanics are very sound, and except for some fatigue last season, Foppert
has not had any health issues to this point. Since he was an infielder all
through high school and was lightly used his first few years of college,
his arm has probably seen less abuse than most, which should work out to
his benefit in the long run. The slight velocity loss, the HR proneness,
and having control issues are minor yellow lights regarding the status of
Jesse Foppert, who is legitimately one of the best pitching prospects in
baseball.
His first start in San
Francisco notwithstanding, Jesse Foppert has the stuff to pitch in the big
leagues right now. With the Giants in perennial contention, they may not
be extremely patient with him this year if his control issues persist, so
he could find himself back in the bullpen, or even back in Fresno at some
point this summer. That will prove to be a temporary situation, if it
comes to pass in the first place, because Foppert is one of the future
anchors of the Giant rotation (along with Kurt Ainsworth and Jerome
Williams, the latter of which I tend to like at least as much as Foppert).
The Giants have basically revamped on the fly to add another 3-5 years
onto their window (or as long as Barry sticks around to bash his way into
the record books), but the kids are going to play major roles in that
philosophy. Two of the comparables that I found for Foppert are Andy Benes
and Kevin Appier: solid workhorses with long major league careers, very
durable, high K rates…in other words, aces, but not hall of famers. That
is my prognostication regarding Jesse Foppert. I think the top four in the
SF rotation for 2005 will be Williams, Foppert, Moss, and Ainsworth, which
has the potential to be a dominant front four for some time to come. Just
to clarify, I am not of the opinion that Jesse Foppert is the best
pitching prospect in baseball - just a very good
one.
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