NewsDeduno a hot name on Rockies' farm
Righty bears watching heading into 2010 campaign
By Thomas Harding / MLB.com
11/30/09 4:22 PM EST
DENVER -- This time last year, Rockies right-handed pitching prospect Samuel Deduno was off the Major League radar. But now he can't escape it.Deduno missed the 2008 season because of Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his throwing elbow. He more than made up for it in 2009. Pitching at Double-A Tulsa, Deduno earned Texas League Pitcher of the Year honors by leading the league in strikeouts with 123 and ERA at 2.57, and he tied for the league lead in wins, going 12-4.
After making one start at Triple-A Colorado Springs, the Rockies summoned Deduno, 26, to the Majors for the end of the season but never activated him. However, he made an impression on scouts who happened to be in the stadium for the bullpen sessions he made for the Major League staff. Deduno has a new opportunity to impress this offseason while pitching for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League.
Rockies player development director Marc Gustafson said the Rockies were mostly interested in Deduno demonstrating that he had recovered from the surgery. He showed way more.
"The first and most important thing was that he came back from the surgery, and his arm was pain-free," Gustafson said. "He came back with a lot of arm strength. His fastball had terrific life to it. When you have a fastball that's 95 mph and a curveball with terrific bite to it, you've got really good stuff."
That's been known for years at the Minor League level. His 119 strikeouts at Casper in 2004 represented a club Rookie-level record, and he was chosen Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year. He has exceeded 100 strikeouts in each season, including 167 in 2006 with Class A Modesto. However, he also led the California League that season with 92 walks.
In 2007, in two starts at Modesto and 21 starts at Tulsa, he finished with 129 strikeouts to 73 walks. This season produced a similar walks-strikeouts rate, 131 to 76 in 24 starts at Tulsa and one at Colorado Springs.
Sometimes, Deduno is hurt by one of his strengths -- the movement of his fastball. Right now his curve is ahead of his four-seam fastball. Baseball America rated his fastball as the best in the Rockies' system in 2007, and it's still drawing raves from scouts. He also is using a two-seam sinking fastball as a sort of changeup, and it also has outstanding movement.
"The curveball right now is his out pitch, if you will, although the terrific movement on his fastball has helped him, also," Gustafson said. "The thing we want to make sure with him with the four-seam fastball is that he's getting ahead in the count. It seems simple, but we really want the four-seamer to be strike one, but his movement is so good that sometimes he has to try to bottle it."
Thomas Harding is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
