Article: How Tall Is Too Tall? How Old Is Too Old? (Part 1)

[John Bonnes]

Last month, when Twins pitching prospect Alex Meyer was taken off of the spring training roster, I asked Twins Manager Paul Molitor if the fact that Meyer is 25 years old and hasn’t reached the majors yet was a concern. “Not to me,” replied Molitor. “Just different people at different times. Sometimes different body types take a little longer to fix issues like [mechanics], too. He’s got a lot of time to be really good.”Meyer has a “different body type” in that he’s 6’ 9”. Tall pitchers are generally viewed as both a blessing and curse. Their height can result in more leverage, higher velocity and different angles to which the hitter must adjust. But they also tend to struggle with their mechanics and thus, their control, which Meyer did in the spring training start before he was sent down and again yesterday. Could this mean that taller pitchers tend to develop later than other pitchers?

 

Since 1980, there are only eight 6'8" or taller pitchers who have had at least 30 major league starts and were primarily used as starting pitchers for their career. Here’s the list:

• Mike Smithson (6’ 8”) debuted in 1982 as a 27-year-old
• Randy Johnson (6’ 10”) debuted in 1988 as a 24-year-old
• Eric Hillman (6’ 10”) debuted in 1992 as a 26-year-old
• Mark Hendrickson (6’ 9”) debuted in 2002 as a 28-year-old
• Chris Young debuted in 20014 as a 25-year-old
• Chris Volstad debuted in 2008 as a 21-year-old
• Jeff Niemann debuted in 2008 as a 25-year-old
• Doug Fister debuted in 2014 as a 25-year-old

The average age of those guys at their debut is a little over 25-years old. Of course, there are a lot of factors for when a player makes their debut beyond “Are they ready?” The rotation's relative strength, the hype of the prospect and how many options the prospect have can all play a part.

 

We think of talk pitchers as strikeout machines, like Randy Johnson, whose career strikeout rate was 10.1 K/9. (Read that last statistic again.) Johnson’s not only in the Hall of Fame, he ranks second all time in strikeouts. But it’s worth noting that he was a late bloomer. Not only did he not debut until he was 24 years old, he was still posting walk rates in the majors over 6 BB/9(!) through his age 27 season. He didn’t become the ace everyone remembers until he was 28. And then he pitched until he was 45. “A lot of time to be really good” indeed.

 

Johnson should also be given credit for transforming the way baseball treated tall pitchers. In the 88 years before he debuted, there had only been three pitchers with 30 or more starts who were 6’ 8”, and none that were taller. In the 26 years after, there have been seven. But they are not all strikeout machines. In fact, most of them are not.

 

Part two will look at each of our tall pitchers a little more in-depth, looking for pitchers that also compare to Alex Meyer's minor league strikeout rate. Thanks to Thrylos, Hosken Bombo Disco, Jokin, 70charger & Kevin for their assistance in researching this study.

 

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[Hrbowski]

 

• Mike Smithson (6’ 8”) debuted in 1982 as a 27-year-old
• Randy Johnson (6’ 10”) debuted in 1988 as a 24-year-old
• Eric Hillman (6’ 10”) debuted in 1992 as a 26-year-old
• Mark Hendrickson (6’ 9”) debuted in 2002 as a 28-year-old
• Chris Young debuted in 20014 as a 25-year-old
• Chris Volstad debuted in 2008 as a 21-year-old
• Jeff Niemann debuted in 2008 as a 25-year-old
• Doug Fister debuted in 2014 as a 25-year-old

 

Chris Young debuted in 2004, Doug Fister debuted in 2009.

[dxpavelka]

Only three of the eight (barely) worth a hill of beans.

[Mike Sixel]

This is great John, thanks,

[Seth Stohs]

Mark Hendrickson is the oldest at 28 years old... although, he did spend a few seasons in the NBA before turning to baseball full time. 

[DocBauer]

Meyer showed last season he was very, very close. Now he's made one start this season and it wasn't good. People are already looking for tall bridges. Time to relax and take a deep breath. The sky may be falling over Target Field, or anywhere the Twins have been playing thus far, but it doesn't mean it's falling everywhere else.

[COtwin]

Man.  That was close.  I almost jumped of a bridge, I though Meyer was out of time.

 

[Loosey]

Funny, I mentioned something similar yesterday to this.  One state I noticed yesterday though was Johnson's walk rate in AA/AAA was over 8BB/9!  His numbers are very similar to Meyer's across the board up until this point in their careers. 

[HitInAPinch]

Jon Rauch.  6' 11"  Age 24 debuted with White Sox.

 

Oops, starting pitchers, only

[HitInAPinch]

Great article, John.