14 replies to this topic

[yarnivek1972]

 

 

Lachlan Robert Wells

 

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Left

Bats:Left

Born:February 27, 1997 in Newcastle, Australia; current age 20

Signed November 21, 2014 

Current assignment: class A Fort Myers

Protection status: will need to be on 40 man roster after 2019 season

 

 

Stats at baseball-reference.com

 

 

Lachlan Wells started the 2017 season as the Twins 26th rated prospect.  He had a solid full season league debut in 2016.  He lacks eye popping stuff, but compensates with advanced command and generally knowing how to pitch. I had the chance to see Wells pitch in person last summer on a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to the gun at the stadium, he showed a low 90s fastball, which he maintained into the 8th inning and a good changeup. Curve is so so. At that same game, his mound opponent tipped his off speed pitches with his motion.  If I can see it from 200 feet away...  I mention it only because Wells (at least to my very amateur eyes) did not tip pitches.  He has a long way to go to make it to the MLB level, but he’s an interesting guy to keep an eye on. 

 

So far at Fort Myers, he's had two pretty good starts, two pretty bad ones and one meh.  Lachlan pitched about 50 innings in 2015, up to just over 70 last year.  I would imagine his goal for 2017 is right around 100 innings.

 

He's on the bump tonight!!

[yarnivek1972]

Lachlan Wells posted his second quality start of the season last night.  It wasn't enough to prevent him from being tagged with his 5th loss, however.  Kinda had a case of the Brad Radkes last night.  5 hits, including two doubles, led to 3 first inning runs for Charlotte.  After that, he held the Stone Crabs to 3 singles over his remaining 5 innings.  On the evening, Wells walked none and struck out two.

 

Assuming Wells continues his pattern of pitching every 6th day, he would project to start next on May 17 in Clearwater with his mound opponent expected to be 2016 5th round Phillies draft pick Cole Irvin.

 

Tune in next week.  Same bat time, same bat channel!

[yarnivek1972]

Is it considered poor form to actively campaign for "my" guy to be minor league pitcher of the day?

 

Lachlan Wells followed up a solid start last week with a complete game 4 hitter tonight against the Clearwater Threshers, leading the Fort Myers Miracle to a 3-1 victory at Hammond Stadium.  Wells walked 2.

 

It was an ominous beginning.  Lead off hitter Zach Coppola doubled to lead off.  A bunt and an infield ground out plated him. After the double, Wells retired 7 straight, mostly on groundouts.  A one out ground ball single broke up the string in the third.  A walk followed.  Two more ground outs, and Wells was out of the jam.  A walk by Wells in the 5th was erased attempting to steal on a strike-em-out throw-em-out double play.  Wells allowed 2 singles in the 7th, but escaped the 2 on, 1 out jam by inducing a rare fly out and yet another grounder.  After that one out single in the 7th, Wells retired the final 8 hitters in order, finishing the game with an impressive total of just 90 pitches.  He struck out 4 and recorded 15 groundball outs.  Yes, fifteen.  You can get that kind of a total when you record all 27 outs.

 

Daniel Kihle provided the offense with a 3 run HR in the 3rd.

 

Lachlan Wells improves to 2-5 and dropped his ERA to 3.51.

 

Here is the boxscore.

 

Way to go Lachlan Wells!

 

 

 

Edited by yarnivek1972, 17 May 2017 - 08:44 PM.

[goulik]

Not bad form to campaign for pitcher of the day when he deserves it...

[yarnivek1972]

Lachlan Wells made his 8th start of the season for the Fort Myers Miracle yesterday in Dunedin.  It went nothing at all like last week's complete game gem.  15 ground outs last week.  Just 3 in this game.  Overall, Wells' line was 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 94 pitches, 64 strikes.  He drops to 2-6, with a still decent 3.72 ERA.  Sometimes, ground balls find holes.  Indeed, there were 3 ground ball singles off Wells.  Lot of fly balls and line drives in the game.  Last week's 15 ground outs were likely an aberration.  For his minor league career, he's gotten more air outs than ground outs.  As was mentioned in the daily minor league report, Lachlan Wells can also take solace in the fact that TWO of the hitters he faced were major leaguers on rehab assignments from the Blue Jays.  Josh Donaldson had 2 hits, an RBI and a walk.  Troy Tulowitzki took Wells deep on a solo shot in the 5th.  Another positive for Wells to take from the game was retiring 9 in a row between the 2nd and 5th innings.  He still has to shake that first inning syndrome.  3 hits and a walk (half of the baserunners he allowed in the game) led to the first inning run, which is actually a pretty good job of damage control.

 

Go get 'em next time, kid.  Maybe in his next start, he won't face hitters that have been in the majors since before he first shaved.

[Carole Keller]

I'm in Fort Myers and will be at the game tomorrow. I see that Wells is scheduled to pitch. Looking forward to it!

[yarnivek1972]

Sorry this update is so late.  Somehow, I missed Wells' start amidst the disaster that was occurring at the MLB level.

 

Lachlan Wells made his most recent start Tuesday, May 30 against the Bradenton Marauders in Fort Myers.  In a recurring theme, first inning-itus continues to be one of his biggest issues.  It wasn't entirely a mess of his own making, but he didn't do himself any favors either.  The second batter of the game reached on an error by shortstop Sean Miller.  a base hit and then an errant pick off attempt, but runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.  Pirate power prospect Logan Hill unloaded the bases with his FSL leading 14th HR and collected his (also FSL best) 43rd RBI.  And just like that it is 3-0.  The Miracle batted around in the second inning and actually gave Wells a 4-3 lead.  But in the 4th, a walk and another long ball threw the lead back to the invading Marauders.  This time it was catcher Kevin Krause. Not surprisingly as a catcher, he lacks sufficient plate appearances to qualify, but if he did, his numbers would put him  among the FSL leaders in batting average and OPS.

 

After 4 innings, Doug Mientkiewicz had seen enough and went to the pen.  Five relievers combined to give up 3 runs on 6 hits and 6 walks as the Miracle lost 8-4.  Lachlan's final line was 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 85 pitches, 53 strikes.  6 Ground outs, 3 Flyouts.  Wells dropped to 2-7 and now carries a 4.14 ERA.  The FSL has been a challenge for Wells.  If he can figure out how to get out of that first inning, I think he'd be making a better showing.  But, like most control type pitchers, they need that first inning to get a feel for what they have working that game.

[yarnivek1972]

Unfortunately, it would be almost possible to simply copy and paste the report of Lachlan Wells' start last week.

 

Wells started Sunday in Palm Beach for the Miracle.  And, yet again, ran into trouble almost right away.  He retired the first two batters on a ground out and strikeout.  Walk, single, homerun.  Just like that, 3-0.  The homerun was the 5th for the Cardinals 15th ranked prospect, 22 year old Cuban outfielder Randy Arozarena.  A walk in the 4th and a double by Luke Dykstra (dude!) produced the Cardinals fourth run.  An error and a triple in the fifth plated another and effectively ended Wells' afternoon.  

 

His final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.  100 pitches, 63 strikes; 5 ground outs, 7 fly outs.

 

Wells now sits at 2-8, with a 4.42 ERA.  The so-called first inning-itus is a common enough problem that one would think that there are strategies to combat it.  I know it was a problem that plagued Brad Radke his entire career.  Radke had a 5.05 ERA in the first and a 4.07 ERA the rest of the game.  Perhaps the Twins are simply waiting to see if he can figure something out on his own before having him try something different.

 

I'm not sure if this is meaningful or not.  This is the first start Lachlan Wells has made this year on 4 days rest.  All the rest were with 5 days rest.  Could just be the way the schedule worked out.

[yarnivek1972]

Lachlan Wells made his most recent start on Saturday June 10th, as the Miracle hosted the Tampa Yankees.  Another fairly regarded lefty prospect was Wells' mound opponent:  Ian Clarkin, who was the Yankees first round pick in 2013.

 

Wells managed to get through the first inning unscathed in this start!  Indeed, an infield grounder was sandwiched between two first inning strikeouts. In the bottom of the first, Nelson Molina hit a grand slam to give Fort Myers a 4-0 lead.  Wells ran into some trouble in the second.  Trey Amburgey led off with a double.  I'm guessing speed isn't a part of his game.  Neither a single or a wild pitch were sufficient to bring him home.  So, Lachlan Wells escaped the second. From the third through the 6th, Wells gave up only one single and went to the 7th with a 5-0 lead.  Amburgey again led off, but this time with his 9th HR, which is tied for 6th in the FSL.  After two ground outs, Wells gave up his fifth and final hit, another single.  That took his pitch count to 102 and he was lifted for Jonny Drozd, who would allow only one hit the rest of the way himself.  The Miracle won 5-1.  Wells improved to 3-8, with a 4.09 ERA.  His final line 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 102 pitches, 71 strikes.  I'm not a math expert, but that appears to be pretty close to 70% strikes.

 

More like that, and things will go well!

[yarnivek1972]

With Fort Myers and the rest of the FSL taking off for the All Star break, I don't expect Wells to pitch until at least Monday, June 19th.  It's entirely likely it will be later than that.  As I mentioned, my guess is that he will be shut down at about 100 IP and he is already over 60.

[yarnivek1972]

Considering Lachlan Wells went 10 days between starts, I think he did reasonably well in his most recent outing.  

 

Wells got the start Thursday, June 22 against the Florida Fire Frogs.  In a turnaround of his earlier starts, he retired the first 6 batters in order.  Braxton Davidson led off with a single in the 3rd but Wells pitched around it without difficulty.  In the 4th, Wells allowed 2 hits,a walk, a stolen base and a wild pitch.  He struck out the final two hitters of the inning and held the damage to 2 runs.  A triple and a sacrifice fly led to a run in the 5th inning.  Wells allowed a lead off single in the 6th - his 4th consecutive inning allowing a lead off hit.  He was able to record a fielder's choice and a strikeout before leaving at his pitch limit of 106.  Williams Ramirez came in and not only allowed Wells' remaining runner to score, but two more as well.  The Miracle offense was almost nowhere to be found.  They were 0 for 7 with RISP and lost the game 8-1.  

 

Wells' final line was 5 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.  106 pitches, 78 strikes, 2 GO, 7 AO.  His record now stands at 3-9, with a 4.28 ERA.

 

One curiousity: The last out of every inning Wells completed was a strikeout and the final out before he was removed was also a strikeout.  

 

Wells figures to surpass his IP total from last year (71 1/3) in his next start, which I would expect to be Wednesday.  If, indeed, the Twins plan to shut him down at about 100 IP, he probably has 5 or 6 starts left.  That should take him through July.

[yarnivek1972]

 

 

 

 

Lachlan Wells dodged the raindrops last Wednesday (June 29) and picked up his fourth win of the year.  He allowed just one run on four hits over five innings, walking one, striking out four.  Unfortunately, he has landed on the disabled list, although I suspect it is more a way to hit the pause button.  He has already passed his IP total from last year.  I speculate that he will be shut down for good at about 100 IP.  The 4th inning was the only inning that gave him trouble.  He allowed a one out homer to Cornelius Randolph (first round pick, 2015) and then a double to Cord Sandberg (3rd round, 2013).  He also hit a batter, but escaped the inning with a strikeout and a groundout.

 

Lachlan Wells improves to 4-9, 4.11.  As is often the case, teams tend to be tight lipped about minor league injuries unless someone with proper credentials asks.  So, there is precious little info available at this time.

[yarnivek1972]

Lachlan Wells made his return to the Fort Myers mound last week.  It was not exactly triumphant.  He came into the game after Lewis Thorpe threw one inning on August 28.  Things started out well.  He retired the first seven batters he faced.  Then, in the 4th inning, St. Lucie used a couple singles and a stolen base to scratch out a run.  Tim Tebow led off the bottom of the 5th with a double off of Wells.  Two outs later, it looked like Wells might get through unscathed.  But then a walk, to the 9th place hitter.  It's ALWAYS the #### walks! Flip the lineup over and Jacob Zanon doubled home two runs.  Wells would walk another hitter before striking Ian Strom to end the 5th, and his day.  

 

Final line 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; 72 pitches, 43 strikes. The only offense mounted by the Miracle was a Brent Rooker 2 run homerun in the first.  So Lachlan Wells picked up the loss to fall to 4-10, with a 4.24 ERA.

 

Wells is starting tonight (9/2) for Fort Myers.

[Carole Keller]

He pitched a good game tonight. I don't know the pitch count, but in 5 innings, gave up 2 H, 0 R and had 7 SO. I don't know enough about his opponents, either. But it was a nice game to see. Miracle won 4-1.

[Bob Sacamento]

Here is some video from Lachlan's rehab start in GCL on 8/19/2017 vs the Red Sox that I took.  His fastball was 88-92 mph, averaging 90-91 with a74-76 mph curveball and 80-82 mph changeup.  Well's delivery adds deception allowing him to hide the ball just a little longer.  His fastball and changeup comeout of the same arm slot while his curveball slot is abducted slightly further (higher up) yet the delivery aids in hiding it. The Lachlan Monster's command is his biggest attribute as he doesn't possess a true strikeout pitch.  The lefty's diminutive size has always been a knock against him sticking as a starting pitcher but if he can master the control aspect of a fastball/changeup combo he could succeed in the pen in further leagues.  Time is on his side as the 2017 season was only his age 20 season and he put up competitive numbers in the FSL considering his age and competition. 

 

Bob's Grades:

FASTBALL:40/45
CHANGEUP: 45/50
CURVEBALL: 40/45
COMMAND: 50/55

OVERALL: 40/45