Happy to hear that my 2013 pick for a pitcher destined for the major leagues, Andrew Heaney, threw a 1 hit gem for the LAA last
night. Wow.
When I saw him in pitch for the Marlin’s Class A+ minor
league team in June 2013 I said he is a quality
lefty and already has great control. His fast ball was clocking at 93 maximum,
usually in the low 90s, but he was working the ball mostly at the knees. His off-speed pitch, either a cutter or a
curveball was in the low 80s. I
went on to say he follows another famous
lefty Jupiter Hammerhead alumnus, Cliff Lee, who pitched here in 2001. He too
relies on control -- and is about the same size as Andrew Heaney, who's listed
at 6-2 and 190. But he looks much thinner than that and needs to work on
building himself to his advertised weight for stamina and to further develop
his off speed pitches. I'll go out on a
limb and predict he will make the majors in 1-2 years.
Well the stamina is there as he threw 116 pitches
yesterday, and the pinpoint control as well, 81 of those for strikes. His fastball was at 95mph, even in the 9th
inning, mixing with the same curve I saw back then and with an effective change
up. He’s now the complete package.
Added bonus last night, it was his first complete game as
a professional, recording all 27 outs on his 27th birthday!
Attaway to go Andrew. And I’ll be a professional scout yet!
