Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Mat Latos 2010

Mat Latos is a popular recommendation as a sleeper pick for 2010. People are looking at his long term potential, his strong minor league numbers, and the advantage he'll gain from pitching half of his games in San Diego. While all of those should help him out, I'm not convinced he's ready to excel in the majors yet. His strikeout ratees in A and AA were right around one batter per inning. Good (especially when coupled with good control), but not exceptional for a top prospect. I suspect that he's going to struggle this year, unless he takes a big step forward.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Latos vs. Matusz? Who are you taking for 2010 and who for their careers? I was under the impression that Matusz may have more potential, but Latos definitely has better minor league numbers, and at a year younger each level.

Alex said...

Kyle- Close call. My initial instinct was Matusz, but after looking them both over again I'm going to go with Latos. Although he struggled with his control in the majors, he had excellent control in the minors, and pitching in San Diego for the next few years is a huge advantage.