Diamondbacks to promote pitcher Drey Jameson, will debut Thursday
In giving the ball to pitching prospect Drey Jameson, which they are expected to do on Thursday night against the San Diego Padres, the Diamondbacks are trusting pure stuff and pitch data over the results in Triple-A Reno.
Jameson, 25, is one of the Diamondbacks’ most intriguing pitching prospects. He has arguably the best pure stuff in the organization, starting with an electric fastball that can reach the upper-90s. Many believe he might be the best pure athlete in the organization — and that is including position players like Corbin Carroll and Daulton Varsho.
But Jameson has been hit hard in Triple-A Reno this season. Among 44 pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched at that level this season, Jameson’s 6.95 ERA ranks 41st. He has made nine starts this season in which he has allowed five runs or more.
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“I didn’t want to comment about what the numbers were; I just wanted to set that aside,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “The guys that come here, we throw the numbers out. We’re focusing on the data.”
Lovullo noted how difficult the pitching environment is in the Pacific Coast League and in Reno in particular. He said that fly balls with exit velocities of 91 mph are being hit for home runs.
Rather than harping on that, Lovullo said, the club is looking at pitch data that tracks things such as velocity, location, movement and spin. Lovullo intimated that by that measure Jameson might be closer to be ready to pitch in the majors than his Triple-A results would suggest.
The Diamondbacks have a pitcher already on their staff whose experience might support that belief. On that list of 44 pitchers with at least 100 innings in Triple-A, Ryne Nelson’s 5.43 ERA ranks 35th. Despite that, Nelson has made two starts in the majors and fired 13 scoreless innings combined against the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and the second-place San Diego Padres.
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“You just have to take it with a grain of salt,” Jameson said of the results in Triple-A. “If I go in after the game and I watch video and I executed pitches, sometimes hitters are just going to beat you. That’s part of the game. It’s eliminating those as much as you can. The PCL is not fun to pitch in, but at the same time it’s going to prepare you for the big leagues and places like Colorado.”
Lovullo said the key for Jameson, as it is for most pitchers, lies with his ability to command his fastball.
“We want to see that velo land in the right places,” Lovullo said. “He’s had runs of really good moments and we know when he’s pitching well that he lands secondary stuff and finds the zone with his fastball. He can change directions and change angles with his fastball.”
Many around the game have long wondered about Jameson’s long-term role, in large part because of his size. He is generously listed at 6-foot, and scouts have suspected the angle at which he throws helps explain hitters’ ability to make occasionally loud contact against his fastball.
“He could make me look bad, but I put him in as a reliever,” a rival scout said of him last year. “He throws strikes, but he doesn’t miss bats with his fastball. I think they see it well because of his size.”
Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or nick.piecoro@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Diamondbacks to promote pitcher Drey Jameson, will debut Thursday
