Nik Turley - 2017

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

I didn't see Nik Turley in the adopt a prospect forum. But, I just saw he was extremely dominant again tonight. He has now pithed 8.1 innings and has 18 strikeouts! That is nuts. Now, I see he is 27 and is a LHP. I realize he could be a smoke and mirrors minor league LHP that doesn't translate to the MLB, but I have not heard anything on him. Even with his age and being LHP, I am still intrigued by these early results. What do we know about this guys velocity and stuff? Did he add a new pitch or something? Small sample size of course, but wow.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

I didn't adopt him though, so go ahead and take a crack at this dude if you guys want.

 

[old nurse]

Maybe he finally figured out something with his command.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

I messaged him with some questions, so will see if he gets back to me, but here is about all I was able to find on him.

 

From his Facebook page:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Turley

 

"Turley is 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall and weighs 225 pounds (102 kg). He uses his height to push the ball down into the strike zone and turns his body sideways as he throws to home plate. His pitches include a fastball that averages 90 to 91 miles per hour (145 to 146 km/h), a curveball that averages 77 to 79 miles per hour (124 to 127 km/h), and a changeup.

 

 

From Fangraphs prospect report in '12:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-report-new-york-yankees/

 

"I was interested to see Turley pitch because I’ve heard some good things about him, but I came away a little disappointed. He’s a big, strong-bodied pitcher standing 6’5” and weighing about 230 lbs. The southpaw – with a high three-quarter arm slot – had a stiff delivery, though, and wasn’t staying over the rubber long enough. He was falling forward too soon causing his arm to drag a bit and it looked like he was putting significant strain on his shoulder. He could definitely stand to use his lower half more to help generate power and lessen the reliance on his upper body. He displays OK control but his command was off. Turley showed an average (or slightly below) fastball but a solid curveball – some of which were very good. Batters appeared to be getting a late look at his pitches, possibly due to some deception in his delivery. He looks like the kind of pitcher that may baffle hitters the first time through the lineup but will then struggle the second and/or third time through the order. He showed a very good move to first base that bordered on a balk."

[Squirrel]

I think you have now adopted him.

[Thrylos]

He mostly used to be a SP and now has been coming off the pen.  I suspect that the move help him, but let's not forget that he is about 3 years older than the league.

[ashbury]

I think you have now adopted him.

I will change the thread title to reflect this.

 

He's yours, ShouldCoulda. (No backsies. )

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

I will change the thread title to reflect this.

 

He's yours, ShouldCoulda. (No backsies. )

I suppose, since Ive already FB and Twitter stalked him. Will see if he responds. 

 

My first thought is that he looks like Matthew Lillard, who was in Summer Catch.

 

 

http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2001_Summer_Catch/001SMC_Matthew_Lillard_008.jpg

 

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

So far, after 8.1 innings in two appearances, he leads all of minor league baseball in both K% and FIP. His FIP is one of only three that are actually negative. He defies reality.

 

Back to his '12 prospect comments from his Fangraphs.....

 

"He looks like the kind of pitcher that may baffle hitters the first time through the lineup but will then struggle the second and/or third time through the order" 

 

Seems like this is possibly playing out thus far this year, as he has pitched 4 innings both appearances. Kind of being used like Devenski for the Astros, who is also dominating in that role, or Archie Bradley so far this year.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

He started his first game of the year tonight. He threw 5 (hitless) innings in 76 pitches. However, his astronomical K% was half that of his previous two long relief outings, striking out 4 and walking 3. He has yet to give up a run in 13.1 innings, while sporting a 22:4 K:BB. 

 

I would be interested to learn if there was any different approach or variable this outing that led to the fewer strikeouts and more walks, while still not giving up a hit. Would really love for someone to be able to find out more on this guy and what he is currently doing different that is leading to this early success. He isn't returning my Myspace messages for some reason either.

[goulik]

Nik Turley has been up and down with the MLB club all season and was a Sept. Recall so his season is not finished. His minor league season is though so here are his final numbers and why he is a call up despite his poor MLB results:

 

Turley has Hurley'd 92 innings in the minors with about 72% of those coming in Rochester and the rest in Chattanooga. He has induced a combined .198 BAA and 124 K's for a nice 1.04 WHIP and a 2.05 ERA while allowing only 29 BB's and 4 HR's. He appeared in 23 games, 13 as a starter finishing with a 5-5 record.

 

In the majors, he has only 16 innings to his stat line and the rest of the stats don't look much better. It probably doesn't help that he has added 4 more home runs in the Majors to his stat line...