April 21, 2017 at 9:00 AM
The Write-Up: Teddy Stankiewicz
PORTLAND, Me. -- Teddy Stankiewicz returned to Double-A Portland to start 2017, taking the ball in the Sea Dogs’ home opener on April 7 against the Reading Fightin Phils. Here’s The Write-Up on his start.
Age: 23
Height: 6-4
Weight: 215 lbs.
Throws: Right
How Acquired: Draft, 2nd Rd., 2013
College: Seminole State (OK)
Line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K; 74 pitches, 42 strikes (57%); 13/24 first-pitch strikes (54%); 7 swing-and-misses
Stankiewicz has a lean, lanky, athletic build and is most likely fully developed. He has a semi-wind-up, rhythmic delivery in which he drops his hands to belt and brings them back up with his high leg kick before dropping and driving towards the plate. The ball comes from a low three-quarters arm slot. He repeats his delivery well, which helps his ability to throw strikes consistently with a four-pitch mix (fastball, curveball, slider, changeup).
In this outing, Stankiewicz’s fastball was 90-92 mph, showing some arm-side run and sink at times that he generates as a result of his arm slot. He is able to control it, but will struggle at times to command within the zone. It’s an average fastball at best and is very much a pitch-to-contact, groundball-inducing offering.
The curveball was 77-79 mph with 10-to-5 break and decent depth. The pitch has an early hump out of the hand, making it easy for hitters to pick up. It doesn’t have much bite and doesn’t project to miss many bats, resulting in a fringe-average grade.
The slider was 83-85 mph with inconsistent shape, ranging between a longer, slurvy action and a shorter, cutter-esque action. Stankiewicz’s lower arm angle generally lends to getting on the side of the ball, resulting in flatter breaking balls rather than the hard, downward-breaking pitches with bite that you would hope to see and would come from getting on top of the baseball. As a result, he won’t project to miss many bats with this pitch.
The changeup was 84-85 mph and a clear fourth offering. He threw the pitch sparingly, but with good arm speed.
Overall, Stankiewicz will throw consistent strikes and pitch to contact with his four-pitch mix. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stankiewicz find moderate success in Double-A in his second go-round, but his stuff is fringe-average across the board and won’t miss many bats. I would project this to cause him trouble at the Triple-A level and, more importantly, in the big leagues. There isn't much projection to the package. Stankiewicz projects as a solid organizational arm with a chance to get a cup of coffee as a spot starter.
Photo credit: Teddy Stankiewicz by Kelly O'Connor.
Chaz Fiorino is Assistant Director of Scouting for SoxProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter @cbfiorino.