Josh Spence out for the year

by Beatuofa on May 11, 2009 4:32 PM MST Comment 5 comments

ASU's national title hopes took a severe blow when coach Pat Murphy revealed that left hander Josh Spence will likely not return to the mound this season and may have already thrown his last pitch for the Sun Devils. He has a torn tendon in his pitching hand and while surgery isn't needed, he will likely be out for the rest of the year.

Murph predicted that Spence will likely be a high pick in the June MLB draft and is unlikely to return to ASU, as he already spent 2 years at junior college and is eligible this season.

I emailed Baseball America editor John Manuel asking about Spence's draft prospects and he indicated that while he likes Spence's makeup, he has doubts about how well he projects at the next level due to his low velocity, topping out in the mid 80s. So I suppose there is a chance that he could get drafted lower than he wants and could come back to ASU.

Of course, it's not like he's going to start throwing any harder with an extra year in college, so he may just figure he wants to start his pro career and start drawing a paycheck rather than risk further injury.

ASU is still capable of making it to Omaha, especially if they draw one of the top 8 national seeds and get to play at Packard through the postseason. But this young team would struggle to have the pitching depth to keep advancing, especially if they ever drop into a loser's bracket. Hopefully guys like Seth Blair and Jason Franzblau can step up and carry the Devils.

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Aw, eff.

Best curveball on the team.

House of Sparky - www.houseofsparky.com - Go Sun Devils

by ASUBoyd on May 12, 2009 10:56 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Wouldn’t it serve him best to come back and prove his health to help his draft status (according to John Manuel?)

When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson

by Red Reign on May 13, 2009 1:02 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

absolutely.

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by ASUBoyd on May 13, 2009 9:35 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Only if...

His health were the primary issue with his draft status. The sense I got was that throwing in the mid 80s was the main issue, and that’s probably not going to improve with another year in college. Let’s put it this way — if a healthy Spence was a 12th round pick but Spence with a bum finger is a 30th round pick, he may come back. But if it’s more like he’s a 12th round pick if he’s healthy but a 16th round pick when he’s not, then we can probably kiss him goodbye.

I mentioned to Manuel that I thought of Spence as a more effective Josh Satow, and he said that was a pretty accurate comparison. Satow was a 28th round draft pick in 2007 after his junior year and decided to come back to school where he had a similar year, maybe a little bit better…and moved all the way up to the 25th round. Spence probably projects a bit better than the 5’10, 165 lb Satow, so he would probably go higher than the 25h round even without as large a body of work. But I don’t know that you’re going to give first 5-10 rounds money to a guy who throws 86 mph.

by Beatuofa on May 13, 2009 9:49 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe, but he is a lefty so his fastball is a little different.

Jason Vargas was a 2nd round pick and his average fastball in his start last night was 86.8 mph.

If Spence has his curve/change/cutter working I think he could be a really valuable pitcher. Kid’s strikeout rates are crazy. As long as he can mix his pitches, change the eye level on the hitters, and his velocity is all over the place – he is going to find success. I am a big fan. I think someone could get a steal in rounds 5-10.

House of Sparky - www.houseofsparky.com - Go Sun Devils

by ASUBoyd on May 13, 2009 11:13 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs