Top Prospect
Alert
The Diamondbacks top rated pitcher, John
Patterson, continued to develop spending most of his season at Double-A El
Paso before a promotion to Triple-A Tucson. His numbers were not as
dominating as they had been in 1998 at Single-A High Desert, still they
were good, especially for someone making his debut as the higher levels,
especially for someone at his age (21).
An original 1st round draft choice by the Expos after his senior year
of high school in Orange, Texas in 1996, John was declared a free agent
based on a technically which allowed for the D'backs to sign him,
including giving him a $6.075 million signing bonus.
Standing at 6 foot 6 and about 197 pounds, John had a great 1998,
despite being just 8-7. He pitched 127 innings and allowed just 102 hits,
42 BB's, gave up 12 HR's, and recorded 148 K's to go with a 2.83 ERA. The
HR total and his ERA were the most impressive numbers to me as he had to
play all of his home games in a stadium that has always been a
hitters-park. He won the California League ERA title by relying on a mid
90's fastball, curve and change which helped him be selected as the best
pitching prospect in the California League.
John's 1999 season brought him the challenge to may the jump to
Double-A where he more than held his own going 8-6 with a with 4.77 ERA.
He continued to pick up the K's (117 in 100 innings) and allowed 98 hits
in the Texas League. In the summer of 1999, Patterson was pitching for
Team USA in the Pan-Am games were he was the teams top starting pitcher.
He was too much for Panama in the 8 innings he worked verus them and left
his first start, verus Canada, in the position to win. Recently, John was
voted the #4 prospect in the Texas League in 1999 where only Rick Ankiel
was rated higher, according to "Baseball America."
Late in 1999, he was promoted to Triple-A where he had his troubles in
his 6 starts, going 1-5 with a 7.04 ERA in 31 innings of work. He walked
18 and gave up 43 hits, but did record 29 K's.
The Diamondbacks have shown a williness to spend money to win, so I
don't think they will rush Patterson along. Look for him to start 2000 in
Triple-A Tucson with a possible promotion to the desert by the end of the
season. John's a future #1 or #2 starter.
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