Minor League Notes + RHP Matt Torra - Details

Welcome again to whatever we're calling these articles. I've decided that in addition to talking about one prospect in depth, I'm going to do that and touch on a number of related subjects.

Why am I doing these articles?

The minor leagues are pretty much a gray area for most Dbacks fans. They don't know who most of our prospects are, and they tend to  have no idea what to expect from most of these guys. I don't think I'm going to make any groundbreaking insight when in comes to any of the players I talk about. What I do think I'm doing is educating and promoting discussion of the minor league players in the Diamondbacks' farm system. I also get a chance to practice my writing while getting regular feedback.

Pitching depth

There's a lot of solid prospects that are worth talking about right now. We've seen a lot of our young pitching this season already; Max Scherzer, Billy Buckner, Connor Robertson, and  Leo Rosales have all seen action with big club. That doesn't even touch the amount of solid pitching depth the Diamondbacks have in the minors.  I've already talked about Bryan Augenstein. I haven't talked about top prospect Jarrod Parker, or Cesar Valdez, Brooks Brown, and of course Matt Torra. There's also a surprising amount of relief pitchers having solid years. Reid Mahon, Josh Ellis, Evan Scribner, Kyler Newby and Chad Beck to just name a few. I'll go in depth on a few of these guys in the near future, specifically Valdez and Parker.

Jamie D'antona

D'antona is having a great year in AAA, hitting 383/421/617 with 13 home runs and 28 doubles in 295 ABS. With the struggles of the team, he's been mentioned a lot as a guy who should be called up. His break out hitting is more than likely an unsustainable result of high BABIP. I respond to that statement with a simple duh! Of course his numbers are unsustainable and he's not that good of a hitter. However he would be an improvement over Eric Byrnes v. 2007, Chris Burke, Jeff Salazar, and Chad Tracy vs LHP. I'm honestly rather surprised he hasn't been called up yet. I plan on looking at him more in depth some time in the near future, as he is a rather interesting borderline prospect.

Bryan Augenstein

Just to update on RHP Bryan Augenstein, who I talked about in my first article: In his two starts since being promoted to High A-Ball Visalia, he's struck out two and walked one batter in each start,  however he's had two very different end results. In his first start he went 5 innings, gave up 5 hits and allowed no runs. In his  next start today he went 5.2 innings and allowed 9 hits and gave up 6 runs. I still want to know what his stuff looks like this year.

Joshua Collmenter

22 year old RHP Joshua Collmenter was already having a solid season going into yesterday's game where he was a walk short of perfect in his seven innings of work. Collmenter struck out seven while facing the minimum number of batters. The walk he gave up was immediately thrown out trying to steal second base. In his start prior to yesterday, he also threw six innings of shut out ball, giving up 2 hits and a walk, while striking out four. Collmenter has been solid through out the minors. In his 66.1 innings pitched for Yakima last year, he was 6-3 with a  2.71 ERA, and a  57:21 strike out to walk ratio. This year in 88.2 innings with South Bend, he's 9-4 with a 3.25 ERA and 75:31 strike out to walk ratio. He's definitely a guy to keep an eye on once he faces more advanced competition in the minors.

Collin Cowgill

There hasn't been any more signing since the Diamondbacks announced the signing of  12 draft picks on June 11th.  None of the 12 picks have really done anything so far, except fifth round pick Collin Cowgill. The 5'9 left handed outfielder has been on an absolute tear since being signed. In his 68 ABs this season, he has 20 hits, 14 going for extra bases, and eleven going for home runs.. His batting line on the season is 294/400/838! He has 16 strike outs against 9 walks on the season. I have no idea if this guy will succeed in the Majors, but if he does, he can fill the pressing need for a scrappy white guy.

Now to look at RHP Matt Torra in depth...

Matt Torra is a surprisingly well known prospect, at least in the inner circle of Diamondback fans. The 6'3 225 lb native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts was the 31st pick overall in the 2005 draft. The 24 year old right hander was drafted out of the University of Massachusetts, and was coming off a season with 1.14 ERA , struck out 111, while walking only 16 in 94.2 innings pitched

Torra had a rather high pitch count with Umass, and the work load took it's toll. Five appearances into his professional career he tore the labrum of his throwing shoulder, and was  sidelined for the next year. A lot of pitchers have trouble coming back from Labrum surgery, but Torra has come back strong. He's not the power pitcher he was when he was drafted, but he's altered his pitching strategy and become a more effective pitcher on the mound.

I'm not going to look too hard at Torra's stats before his first full season in 2007, where he pitched at high A Visalia. The small sample of 35 innings split between Yakima and South Bend are just not that relevant in comparison to his more recent statistics since. I suppose it's worth noting the 30 strike outs to just 9 walks, and the 1.80 ERA.

In 2007, the then 23 year old was assigned to High A Visalia. At first glance his 6.01 ERA wasn't too impressive,. However  his month by month statistics tell a different story. Torra went 1-4 with an 11.57 ERA and .396 BAA in April.  At the end of May he was 1-6 with a 9.87 ERA.  Torra then rebounded with a 10-3 second half, posting a 4.05 ERA striking out 91 batters, while walking only 19.  From August on, Torra went 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA.  All together, Torra was 12-10 in his 28 starts with a 6.01 ERA,137 strike outs to 43 walks. and 158.2 innings pitched. 

Once you take in the fact that Torra was recovering from a serious surgery, and facing advanced competition in a hitter's league, his 2007 was a very promising year.

Torra began this year in the pitching friendly Southern League playing for AA Mobile, before recently being promoted to AAA Tucson in the PCL. In his 13 starts with Mobile, Torra was 5-5 with one complete game. He had a 2.85 ERA and a  50:12 K:BB ratio in 79 IP. Since his promotion to Tucson, 1-1 in 4 games with a 3.86 ERA, and 16 strike outs to 6 walks in 23.1 IP.

From what I understand, Torra has five pitches: a four seam fastball, two seam fastball, curveball, change up, and a sinker. Before his labrum injury, Torra regularly threw in the mid nineties and featured a power curve. Since the injury, Torra has focused on developing his now excellent change up and started throwing a sinker. He did lose some velocity after the labrum surgery, but has slowly seen it return as he moves further and further from the surgery.

Matt Torra is probably our third best pitching prospect, after Jarrod Parker and Max Scherzer, of course. Torra's 2008 has been quite good, and he's getting very close to being ready to play in the Majors. He could see a call up when the rosters expand, and he should be competing for a spot in the starting rotation next spring.

Well, just to wrap things up, I'd like to thank you for reading. Any feedback is welcome.