In the News
6/5/06.. addition.. Rocky.. thumbnail sketch
Can pitch consistantly at 92 mph and top out at 95 mph, but most encouraging, he is throwing the changeup for strikes. Curveball is his out pitch, but development of changeup gives him a weapon against left-handed hitters.
5/08/06.. Purps 30 .. Purple Row.com
10. Samuel Deduno - RHP
It's hard to believe that so small a frame can juice the ball like that, but Deduno's cut fastball has to be one of our system's most difficult pitches to make contact with. There are concerns about future injuries here, and Deduno has to be approached with a caution flag if you're looking at prospects with a high likelihood of reaching their potential. Samuel also needs to develop a little more control as he moves to levels where there's not as much pressure for prospects to make a statement with their bats. In other words, more developed eyes are already laying off more of his pitches, and if he doesn't learn to work within the corners, walks will start to hurt him a lot more in AA and beyond. One other thing to help here, he also needs a second out pitch -and like Morillo needs to work inside a little more- so that batters have less of an ability to protect the plate and sit around waiting for mistakes.