Prospect Insider - A look at Stephen Pryor

A look at Stephen Pryor

By Adam H. Wong

By 05-12-2012

Alex Carson wrote that Stephen Pryor's Triple-A debut was electric. His fastball has the stuff to quiet the low rumble of an inebriated stadium, but more importantly, it silenced the Albuquerque bats. He sat around 97 mph in the two innings he pitched this last Thursday, and the Isotope batters simply looked outmatched and overpowered. Of the six outs he recorded on Thursday, three of them were strikeouts. He induced one ground ball out, a fly out and a line out to right field. He allowed a walk in the eighth and a ground ball single in the ninth.

Pryor has big league caliber stuff. In his two-year professional career, he's posted a 12.5 strikeout-per-nine ratio. In the 19 innings this year in the time he's split between Jackson and Tacoma, he has 29 strikeouts and six walks to go with a 0.737 WHIP and a monstrous 13.7 strikeout-per-nine. And although his groundout-to-flyout numbers may not translate to the majors, his 0.61 GO/AO ratio would be good for a ground-ball percentage of 29. In other words, when he's not striking out batters, he's going to be an extreme flyball pitcher. He would fit perfectly at Safeco Field.

And I don't think he'll stay in the minors for very long.

Dave Cameron recently wrote a piece on trading Brandon League, and if you've been following Prospect Insider, you know that most around this site carry the same sentiment. Cameron pretty much covers it all, and when the Mariners find a trade partner for League, Pryor is almost a lock to get the call. Once League is traded, Seattle's current bullpen will probably just shift forwards a slot. Tom Wilhelmsen will close, Steve Delabar will be the set-up man and so forth. With League gone, the M's won't lose any velocity in the pen, as Pryor's power arm will comfortably fit in with the rest of the flamethrowers in the pen.

In the attached video are all of Pryor's pitches in his outing this last Thursday.

He doesn't have the best hip-to-shoulder separation, but he doesn't need to. At 6' 4", 245 lbs., he is built like a tank, and he generates enough strength to propel the ball 97-98 mph. In a way, he sort of reminds me of Justin Verlander. Although Verlander is a bit taller and has less mass on him, he's big and strong enough to generate his pitch velocity. Both pitchers transfer their weight well and have a perfectly timed hand break, making it easier to generate such high velocity.

From the side angle in the video, you can see that Pryor starts to move his weight forward during his leg raise. And as Brock Huard once pointed out on Michael Pineda's delivery, it's from the help of his "power source" that generates much of the velocity. His strong legs help send his weight towards home plate. He has a short, quick arm path, unlike Andrew Carraway and James Paxton.

While he's down in Tacoma, he should be working on his command of the fastball. Although I wasn't able to see every frame that catcher Brandon Bantz put up, I did see a few where Bantz wanted the pitch low and away but the fastball sailed up and in. One of those pitches was a Josh Bard swinging strikeout. Pryor's fastball is filthy enough that he can get away with mistakes in the minors, but that won't fly in the big leagues.

Pryor has been dominant down on the farm. If I'm in the Seattle front office, I'm getting Pryor up as soon as possible to see if he can overpower major leaguers.

Adam H. Wong can be reached via email at wong@prospectinsider.com. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Comments
The following 7 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: rocketdawg31 on 05-13-2012 20:46:50

Stellar work, Adam!

The guy physically kind of reminds me of former Nasty Boy/Red reliever Rob Dibble- but he REALLY reminds me of a Baltimore Orioles starter/reliever from a few years ago (and so far as I know, who didn't last all that long) named Rocky Biddle. But if Pryor sits at 96-97, he throws considerably harder than Biddle did.

Pryor also seems to me that he has the potential to acquire unwanted pounds pretty easily- heavy trunk, mesomorphic build. May be something for him to watch as he gets older, and the ol' metabolism starts playing cruel tricks on a guy.

But, yeah...that velocity WILL play. Bet he's in a Mariner uniform by July 31st.

2. By: rotoenquire on 05-14-2012 16:30:29
TONS of pitching! the rumor mill has Seattle not only trading Vargas, League, Olivo, maybe even one of the big 3 in Hultzen, Paxton or Walker could be traded. The idea would be too add the bats we are missing. I like the way the M's are going.

Next year we have the potential to have one of the best young lineups in the game. With Franklin being the starting SS next season. Pulling away form the wishful thinking of the group mentioned who is likely to be dealt 1st?

3. By: Jason A. Churchill on 05-14-2012 18:13:01
There are ZERO rumors out there anywhere that have the Mariners trading any of the big three. Perhaps you made something up that involved one of them, but there are no such rumors.

4. By: bobbysee1 on 05-14-2012 18:42:57
Noticed T Walker left after 2+ innings tonite. Is he OK?

5. By: Juan Valdez on 05-14-2012 19:48:45
Is Nick Franklin hurt?

6. By: rjfrik on 05-14-2012 20:18:53
Haven't heard any big three rumors. There is absolutely no reason to trade any of the three. Let them develop and become the big four with Felix headlining.
If anyone gets traded it will be Vargas, Millwood or Beaven.

And about SS. I think we are more likely to see Carlos T. as our starting SS next year more then Nick F. I think Nick has to go through his AA lumps this year and AAA lumps next year. Carlos is proving that he can handle AAA although it's early. I expect to see Carlos in a M's uniform by the end of the year.

7. By: outfieldgrass on 05-21-2012 15:41:36
I would not be against dealing Paxton for the right bat. Walker/Hultzen need to stay though. I would also try and get Vargas locked up. Not an overpowering pitcher but very valuable and consistent.

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