Pitching development has been the Red Sox's bread and ******* er under Craig Breslow. Since Breslow took over, the organization has invested heavily in the pitching pipeline. In his first two drafts, 28 of the team's 41 picks were spent on pitchers — 29 if you count two-way player Conrad Cason. At the major league level, Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, and Jake Bennett have all contributed after spending time in the system.
This season, the draft was more balanced, but several pitchers were still selected in the middle and later rounds. One of them was left-hander Brett Lanman out of Abilene Christian University, selected in the fifth round. Lanman, like many of the pitchers acquired by Breslow during his tenure as Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer, is huge. He's listed at 6-5, 230 pounds, and uses that frame to extend down the mound and help his pitches play up. While no two pitchers are the same, he's excited to get to an organization with a recent track record of getting young arms to the major leagues.
"I'm ready to get to work, cause these guys know what they're talking about," Lanman said. "They've developed these guys, and they're in the big leagues. It's like, man, they know, they know what it takes to get a left-handed pitcher into the big leagues pretty quickly."
Draft picks, to an extent, are lottery tickets. It's incredibly rare for a draft pick to enter the league as a major league-level talent. Paul Skeneses (Skenesi? Skenes?) don't grow on trees, and if they did, they'd all be first-round picks. Lanman, as a fifth-round pick, is far from a finished product. If he were, his ERA in his final season at ACU likely would have been lower than 5.35. The Red Sox didn't select the lefty because of his college results. They picked him because of who they believe he can become.
Potential is based on traits, such as being huge and left-handed. Lanman is both huge (6-5, 230) and left-handed. He also has a low release point and plus extension, creating a flat attack angle for his fastball. Most starting pitchers who succeed have a fastball as the foundation. Lanman knows that his heater is what's brought him this far, and that's what the Red Sox will want to build upon.
#league #round
This season, the draft was more balanced, but several pitchers were still selected in the middle and later rounds. One of them was left-hander Brett Lanman out of Abilene Christian University, selected in the fifth round. Lanman, like many of the pitchers acquired by Breslow during his tenure as Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer, is huge. He's listed at 6-5, 230 pounds, and uses that frame to extend down the mound and help his pitches play up. While no two pitchers are the same, he's excited to get to an organization with a recent track record of getting young arms to the major leagues.
"I'm ready to get to work, cause these guys know what they're talking about," Lanman said. "They've developed these guys, and they're in the big leagues. It's like, man, they know, they know what it takes to get a left-handed pitcher into the big leagues pretty quickly."
Draft picks, to an extent, are lottery tickets. It's incredibly rare for a draft pick to enter the league as a major league-level talent. Paul Skeneses (Skenesi? Skenes?) don't grow on trees, and if they did, they'd all be first-round picks. Lanman, as a fifth-round pick, is far from a finished product. If he were, his ERA in his final season at ACU likely would have been lower than 5.35. The Red Sox didn't select the lefty because of his college results. They picked him because of who they believe he can become.
Potential is based on traits, such as being huge and left-handed. Lanman is both huge (6-5, 230) and left-handed. He also has a low release point and plus extension, creating a flat attack angle for his fastball. Most starting pitchers who succeed have a fastball as the foundation. Lanman knows that his heater is what's brought him this far, and that's what the Red Sox will want to build upon.
#league #round
3 months ago
