12. Edward Concepcion. RHP. BD: 10-03-1988. 6'3", 190 lbs.
2009 Stats: AZL Rookie- 4-3, 4.61, 54.2 IP, 26 BB, 70 K's, GO/AO= 2.26.
Concepcion was a bit old for the AZL at age 20, although not excessively so. The Giants brought him along slowly with parts of 3 seasons in the DSL prior to bringing him to Arizona. That's probably not a bad idea for handling the early career of a power pitcher. Concepcion was flying under the radar in the Giants organization until the guy from azgiants.com noticed him hitting 97 MPH on the radar gun in Arizona one night. He posted his feelings of excitement on his blog and it got picked up by other Giants fans on other blog/websites. Then BA ranked him #13 on their AZL Top 20 Prospects list with a scouting report that confirmed the velocity. BA had him topping out at 98 MPH. His pitching coach, Mike Caldwell was quoted as believing he will eventually hit 100 MPH! Caldwell worked with him in simplifying his mechanics and rival scouts and managers felt he made tremendous progress during the summer.
Two things stand out about his record: 1. The K rate. I use a K/9= 9 as my benchmark for judging a pitching prospect's ceiling and Concepcion is well above that. While the BB/9 isn't stellar, but not hopelessly high either. 2. GO/AO. A power pitcher with a high K rate doesn't have to be a groundball pitcher to excell, but if you combine Concepcion's velocity, K rate and GO/AO, you have the potential of a special pitcher. Felix Hernandez would be the comp for that type of combination. I use a GO/AO of 2.00 as my benchmark for excellence for a pitcher in the lower minors. Again, Concepcion is well above that.
I would think he should be assigned as a starter in low A Augusta this spring. A very exciting prospect!
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Just read my way through 43 blogs and I wanted to say, BRAVO!
ReplyDeleteYou have an easy style that reads well. You have a passion that flows from the page.
I will be a regular reader and a sometime commentor. Keep up the great work.
P.S. It must be nice to be able to share your love of baseball with your daughter, and to have her help you with this blog.
That is also what makes baseball the greatest sport on the planet.
Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to read the whole thing. That tells me something right there! Keep coming back. I'll do my best to keep it interesting and real.
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