Liam Hendriks discusses his five-pitch mix

[Seth Stohs]

This is some really interesting information direct from Hendriks on his five pitches, how long he's thrown it, velocity, movement and how he would rank it on a 20-80 scale. Hendriks is one of the smarter baseball people I've talked to and it comes through in this article.

 

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120309&content_id=27137598&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

[Shane Wahl]

Yeah, I have been impressed with him in podcasts with you in the past. He is an intelligent guy who cares about succeeding. I have no doubt that he will succeed for the Twins.

[Fanatic Jack]

I like Liam Hendriks and he could get much better.

[jimbo92107]

Hendriks is going to be a solid starter for a decade.

[Jim Crikket]

Hendriks seems like a terrific young man and he clearly has some talent. He also takes his craft very seriously and that's a good thing.

 

That said, with all of that thinking, I can't help but hear Crash Davis in my mind... "Don't think, you'll only hurt the ballclub."

 

Don't think too much, Liam... at best, it will give you a headache and God knows we have enough guys on this team with headache issues!

[Paul Pleiss]

What is the ceiling for Hendriks? I like what I've seen from the young man and it seems he could be a 2-3 started for the big league club, however I keep seeing reviews that put him a back of the rotation innings eater type. Where's the true value for Hendriks?

 

 

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@baseballpirate

Paul Pleiss, staff writer for www.puckettspond.com

[Seth Stohs]

What is the ceiling for Hendriks? I like what I've seen from the young man and it seems he could be a 2-3 started for the big league club, however I keep seeing reviews that put him a back of the rotation innings eater type. Where's the true value for Hendriks?

 

I wrote this in another thread...

 

I think that Hendriks compares very similarly to Scott Baker. His velocity is the same. He has a better curveball. They have similar changeups. The difference is tha Baker is very stoic, which some really like and appreciate and others get quite frustrated with. Hendriks is known for being very competitive. So, if Baker is the comp, I think it's very fair to say that Hendriks' upside is a #2... more likely a #3. I'll take that any day. that's worth a lot of money.

[Brandon Warne]

Yeah, I'd say somewhere between Baker and Radke. I lean towards Radke because I don't know if Hendriks will ever fan as many guys as Baker, but at the same time, he should give a way fewer longballs than either of them.

 

If he's the Twins #3-4 guy for the next 6-8 years, that's probably a good thing.

[Steve Lein]

I don't think Hendriks has the velocity of Baker. Fangraphs says Timothy averaged 91 MPH on his heater in 2011, and Hendriks 90. But going by memory, Baker can run it up to 95 and sits 91-93, and I don't remember Hendrik's hitting anything over 92, and sat 88-90. That's a big difference in velocity for me. Bakers slider and curveball also come in much faster than Hendriks. But there's plenty of value in being a #3, and that's what I'd view Hendriks' ceiling as.

[diehardtwinsfan]

If he can keep those K/9 close to his minor league avg (8.22), he should be a pretty decent pitcher. His walk rate is low as well. Might not be a number 1, but should be a solid 2/3 for 6-10 years... I'll take that.

[2wins87]

I liked this article a lot. It shows why I still think he could be a #2 starter while a lot of people think he's a back of the rotation starter at best.

 

He knows his stuff and he understands how to throw it to get the most out of it. I have to make a comparison with the way Greg Maddux pitched, though obviously I don't think Hendriks will be nearly as successful as Maddux. Madux had a seriously plus changeup and curveball, and paramount command, while Hendriks has probably a plus changeup right now and very good command. But Maddux is a first ballot hall of famer who probably didn't have hall of fame stuff. I see Hendriks as a #2 who has back of the rotation stuff.

 

I think Hendriks has shown a great ability to out-pitch guys not overpower them, so the question is whether he will be able to keep it up against major league hitters who have better discipline and more trained eyes. I'm optimistic, others aren't, so we'll have to see how he pans out.