Who do you guys think are the top 10 Starting pitchers with less then 50 innings of MLB experiance

Off the top of my head I'd have to say Bumgarner, Neftali Feliz, Hellickson, Friedrich, Jhoulys Chacin, Dan Hudson, Jarrod Parker, Jake Arrietta, Hector Rondon is probably in there too. I'll come back with a more researched list a little later.

My Top 10:

1) Brian Matusz - Looks like an ace in the making. Command of 4 potential plus-pitches (say that 3 times fast).
2) Neftali Feliz - I admit, I was skeptical about him, but he's looked very very good out of the pen in Arlington.
3) Martin Perez - Probably a reach here, but reaching AA at the age of 18 after looking dominant in A ball is no small feat.
4) Jeremy Hellickson - Scouts don't go crazy about his stuff, but its tough to argue with the numbers he puts up.
5) Madison Bumgarner - Effortless gas (although not as much lately). Needs to work on the secondary stuff.
6) Jarrod Parker - Hoping to avoid TJ surgery, but has been described as a Roy Oswalt clone.
7) Christian Friedrich - Remember the name. Filthy stuff that translates into lots of K's.
8) Hector Rondon - Underrated. Should contend for a spot in Cleveland's rotation in 2010.
9) Jhoulys Chacin - High ground ball rate and good K rate. Gotta love that combo. Still very young too.
10) Jake Arrieta - I wanted to go Dan Hudson here, but Arrieta's got the pedigree. Another high-upside O's arm.

Just missed: Mat Latos (50.2 IP). Probably would have slotted him between Parker & Friedrich.

Hope this helps...feel free to comment/dispute/crap on my list.

how about Wade Davis?

Another note: my list did not include Strasburg...who would obviously rank #1. I was simply analyzing players on minor league or major league rosters. But yea...he's the next big thing.

As for Wade Davis...I like him a lot. He gets mixed reviews...some say he's a #3, some say he can be better than that. I personally think he has the stuff and the build to be a front-of-the-rotation horse...but he needs to work on his command in order to get there. I think he's going to get the chance to do that in TB's rotation in 2010!

couple problem i see

1. I truly dont get why friedrich is SO darn high, 22 year old in A, cmon now hes not even a top 10 IMO, he gets alot of K's, in a league with prob. 19-20 year olds that cant hit a curve his whip is what? 1.15 1.20? i AAA i would expect a 4.00 ERA 1.50 WHIP 7K/9 if hes LUCKY...one word.....OVERRATED

2. Why the F*** is Bumgarner SOOOO low!!!!?!?...hes whip is around 1.05 in AA, sure the SO declined, hes FB is slower as the season rolls on...but this guy can locate, look at Roy halladay, one of Thee best pitchers, and hes K rate isnt GREAT, just ecause you dont get K's doesnt mean your bad, hes 20 and your guys keep critizing him for the K's...Id like to see you pitch 92 MPH his curves not great but he will get another pitch(he said he wants to master the cutter) both of his Runs in the bigs where of Curves up in the zone, he will win a Cy young!

3. its not Matusz isnt good but i think feliz FB is just sooo dominating(like verlander) if hes curve/slider got better...wow def. cy young, matusz is great

4. I think martin perez has the most upside outta anyone in this list, hes 18 dominating A ball, next year AA will be a nice test...if he does good he could be called up, i personally would rather have martin over everyone on the list exept bum and feliz(Maaaybe matusz) hes a stud

Yeah I was totally already putting Brian Matusz in the over 50 IPs, but he will sit at 44.67 for the rest of the year. Wade Davis too is a good one. He has looked even better in the majors than he did in AAA.

1.) I agree with you that Friedrich is a bit old for his level, but I'm basing my opinion more on his arsenal rather than his 2009 statistics. Friedrich is a tall lefty that works at 90-91 but can get it up to 93-94 if needed. His bread and butter pitch is a hammer curve, but he also has a potential plus circle-change and he's working on a slider. I think he's going to be a good one as his feel for pitching continues to develop.

2.) It's not that I'm doubting Bumgarner is a solid prospect, but at this juncture its tough to argue that his success is tied to anything else but his ability to blow the ball by hitters. If by next year, after an off-season of rest, he's back to pitching in the low- to mid-90's, then yes, an argument can be made that he deserves to be higher on prospect lists. However, if this recent decrease in velocity is the result of an injury or is something that we can continue to expect going forward, an adjustment in his ranking is warranted.

3.) I personally think that Feliz's repertoire will play best out of the bullpen. I see a future lights-out closer in Feliz.

4.) I agree with you here. I have sort of a mini man-crush on Perez and could easily see him winding up being the best on this list. But, at 18, he's a bit too far away for me to consider moving him up on this list!

Aroldis Chapman and Strasburg should be in the top ten. Also I have serious concerns about Bum but not enough to bump him out of the top ten.

1) Stephen Strasburg WSH - His college numbers were head and shoulders above Matusz's.

2) Brian Matusz BAL - Just barely qualifies for this list. He has shown good improvement at every level.


2) Madison Bumgarner SF - Youngest player in the majors. Has had good success there so far. Even though he has lost quite a bit of velocity on his fast ball. He is looking to hit 140 IPs for the second consecutive year in his 2nd year as a pro at the age of 19.


3) Neftali Feliz TEX - Power arm could find himself as the Ranger's closer. He looks to have taken his game to the next level at the major league level.


4) Jeremy Hellickson TB - His 57 AAA IP's to close out the regular season were sick. An 11 K/9 and a 0.80 WHIP with a 2.51 ERA and a 4.67 K/BB ratio. He also just threw 5 innings of shutout ball in the AAA playoffs. He won't be 23 until next April either.


5) Christian Friedrich COL - His college numbers and Advanced A ball numbers were virtually in the same tier as Matusz. Pitching in the NL could make him eventually more valueable than Matusz.


6) Jhoulys Chacin COL - A sinkerball pitcher that has amazingly high ground ball rates. He gets Brandon Webb comparissions but when I compare there minor league numbers Chacin's easily look better.


7) Hector Rondon CLE - An electric arm. He dominated AA at 21 with a 9.1 K/9, 1.06 WHIP, and a 2.75 ERA over 72 innings. He was then promoted to AAA where he wasn't nearly as dominate but more than held his own with a 7.7 K/9, 1.29 WHIP, and a 4.00 ERA.


8) Dan Hudson CHW - Made a big name for himself this year with some sick ass minor league numbers. He continued to show great numbers at every level he played at this year. He went from A ball to the majors hitting every level along the way for a brief moment.


9) Wade Davis TB - His ceiling might not be as high as these other guys but he is probably the most MLB ready right now. Outside of one bad start Wade Davis has completely dominated in his other 3 major league starts. All this after a solid year in AAA, but not overpowering by any means only a 7.9 K/9, 1.45 WHIP, and 3.40 ERA over 158.67 IPs. Wade Davis to me is a slightly better version of Jake Arrieta. Wade Davis also will pitch in a better pitchers park than Arrieta.


10) Jordan Lyles HOU - A guy not known by many. But I really like the numbers he put up this year in A ball at only 18. He boasted a 10.4 K/9, a 1.19 WHIP, and a 3.24 ERA. In 2008 the only 18 year old with undoubtedly better A ball numbers than Lyles was Bumgarner.

Christain Friedrich is not too old for his age level. The majority of hitters at Advanced A ball are 22 - 23. You also have to take into consideration that this was his first full year in proball. Other high profile prospects in the same situation Buster Posey, Pedro Alvarez, Brian Matusz, the list goes on. Anyway all these guys all spent a majority of there time at the Advanced A ball.

If you compare Christian Friedrich to Brian Matusz you will realize that not only where there college numbers were extremely similar there Advanced A ball numbers this year were very similar. Friedrich has shown the more live arm having a higher K/9 at the Advanced A ball level (more than 1 whole K/9 more than Matusz).

When you also factor in the fact that Friedrich will be an NL pitcher compared to Matusz pitching in one of the worst pitchers parks in Camden Yards you come to realize Friedrich is a far better deal than Matusz he doesn't carry a quater of the hype Matusz does.

Also factor in the fact that just about any major league scout will tell you that lefties take longer to develop than righties (for whatever reason, not so sure I'm sold on this but I've heard it too many times to just ignore it).

I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Friedrich ended up having a better MLB career than Matusz.

I love Christian's arsenal and makeup, think he is going to be a real good one. Personally, I don’t think enough people are talking about it. Think you might be eating your words when it is all said and done, but guess we will see.

betnman, Your Top 10 choice is great but you are missing Strasburg, he also should be in Top 10.

This

Jordan Lyles as a top 10 pitching prospect is dubious. Have you seen him pitch?

No Kyle Drabek mentions yet? Carlos Carrasco? Mike Leake?

The recovery rate from Tommy John surgery is pretty high, but I don't think I'd still rank Parker as one of the top 10 pitching prospects in the game. His fastball command was a little raw before the injury and I wouldn't expect him to come back with command of the pitch in 2010.