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Wei-Chieh Huang
Born: 09/26/1993 (Age: 22) |
Bats: Right |
Throws: Right |
Height: 6' 2" |
Weight: 175 |
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Slender frame, narrow shoulders, flat chest and back side, minor projections remaining, frame not geared to add bulk; wiry strength, premium fluidity and athleticism; slight rock with hesitation, sets grip in front of face after first move, semi-wind to a high leg kick, closes front side; consistent hand break, deep arm action, above-average arm speed to high three-quarter slot; some drop ad drift in drive, moderate spine tilt; generates strong momentum, very fluid to slot, some slingshot action, clean finish and deceleration; 1.23-1.33, lost some arm-side command in stretch, velo holds |
Wilson Karaman |
05/15/2016 |
Visalia Rawhide (High A, D-backs) |
4/24/16 |
50 |
2017 |
Yes |
FB |
55 |
89-91 |
92 |
2-seamer, average movement with mild run and sink, drives it to lower quadrants; above-average present command, athleticism and repeatability lends projection to plus command; will elevate and run it on the hands ahead |
CH |
60 |
83-84 |
84 |
Solid feel, confidence in offering, will pitch backwards off it, double-up, works right-on-right; above-average movement with tumble, mild fade; maintains arm speed, tunnels well off fastball with similar movement and enough separation; moderate swing-and-miss potential, weak fly ball contact; can fall in love with it |
SL |
45 |
79-81 |
81 |
Short break, commands down and to the edges, lacks late bite to generate whiffs, enough tilt to stay of barrels |
CB |
45 |
71-75 |
77 |
Looping break, works in zone to steals strikes, rolling shape, trackable, lacks depth to take it out of zone for swing-and-miss |
Huang controls his body and demonstrates an advanced feel for pitching, throwing all four pitches at any point in the count and working backwards at times off his changeup and breakers. He repeats a fluid delivery effectively and commands well down in the zone despite length in his arm action. Some deception helps the arsenal play up, though the raw stuff has its limits, particularly againt same-handed hitters. The fastball that doesn't show a ton of life and neither breaking pitch projects as a chase pitch. The package works as long as he spots the ball effectively, though hitters started taking better swings against him after multiple looks.
The frame suggests durability issues, but his athleticism and sneaky core and leg strength mitigates some of those concerns. If he proves capable of handling a hundred pitches every fifth day and refines one or both of his breaking balls another half a tick there's No. 4 starter potential here, but more realistically he looks like a potentially effective middle man that offers spot-start potential and valuable multi-inning utility out of the pen.
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