Quote (Wine @ Nov 8 2012 07:05pm)
We also got Jeffress from Royals
Hard thrower and young, got a strikeout fastball. Bad numbers from high babip and low strand rate. Only 38 innings in the majors. I like this pickup a lot.
As some one who has watched Jeffress closely since the Royals traded for him in the Greinke trade, I can tell you he's an enormously frustrating player. Yes, he has a decent babip but he has never been able to control his fastball (which can top out over 100) - I think he will be a solid set-up man IF he can ever just dial back and focus on control. I watched him up in Omaha a few times where they were working with him closely and he has decent movement on his pitches when he can dial it back. He needs to learn to believe in throwing the ball softer.
He doesn't take instruction well, simply put. On Billy Butler, I won't argue with that (I'm a Royals fan but I really appreciate Toronto) - the Royals play in a very pitcher friendly park compared to Toronto.