Liam Hendriks

I'll give Hendriks a semi-"pass" for last year, given that he couldn't survive Baltimore cuisine, let alone his first start. But, no, it isn't good when you excel at multiple levels of the minors, and your first impression in the bigs is THAT bad.

Typically, pitchers who miss bats are still able to do that once they get to the majors, even if they also get shelled. Hendriks didn't really strike anyone out last year, AND he got shelled. You can say that his control might get better, but at 2.7 walks per 9, it's not like he was walking in runs last year. Baker walked 2.1 per 9 in his career, and Matt Cain walked 3.1 per 9 (though less in recent years). It'd be one thing if he was all over the place, but I just question whether his "stuff" is any good. But he still is quite young, so he'll get his chances.

storm, when i say control i am talking about better quality strikes , not just not walking hitters, i am pretty cofident he can throw strikes but thats the problem , he will make a good pitch then follow it up with one belt high right down the middle, or hang a curve...i was referring to making quality piches in the strike zone & that can be improved. i question his stuff also , but if he can improve his location his stuff will appear better.

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Originally Posted by 3up3down

brock, i am definately not a hater, but sell me on hendricks, what i have seen is a hi 80s Fb with little movement, location average, curve below avg, chnage avg, slider below avg...the only thing i think he can improve on is his location & that will help tremendously & he had off season elbow surgery so he will not have a normal off season to work on things.. all the other pitchers that have been mentioned have atleast 1 plus pitch, blackburn , great sinker when he is right, deduno, nasty movement on all his pitches but can he fix it ??,gibson + FB with sink, walters + change , was rated the best in the cards org for yrs & he showed it when healthy last year..just my opinion you have to have atleast 1 plus pitch to be a consistent starter in the bigs & i simply dont see it with hendricks, hope i am wrong but i just dont think so..

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Well, a few things (and remember that I'm not particularly high on Hendriks, either)... First, he's only 23 and is still sorting out his secondary pitches. He's a young guy who never faced much in the way of talent until a few years ago. Second, his fastball is more in the 90-ish range, not the high 80s. He's not a hard thrower but he's not Jaime Moyer, either. Third, when he stopped pitching scared last year and nibbling around batters, he had a couple of decent games. In August and September after his return, he pitched six games and posted an ERA around 4.3-4.4 (and there were a couple of disaster starts mixed in that inflated his overall numbers). Hell, if he can pitch like he did after his call-up, he's already a better pitcher than Kevin Correia.

The more I watched Hendriks, the more I was convinced that his problem was one of confidence. He was twitchy, he nibbled at the plate, got behind batters, and was shelled for it. After his demotion/call-up, I saw less and less of that (and he finally got his first ML win). He's still 3-4 years from his prime and if he starts going after hitters and trusts his (somewhat meager) stuff, he'll be just fine as a #4/5 guy with a small chance of being another Scott Diamond with a few more strikeouts.

Parker wrote an awesome write-up about Hendriks last summer. I suggest you take a look. Twins Daily - What's hindering Hendriks?