When the Astros traded away Brandon Lyon, J.A. Happ, to Toronto for - among others - Asher Wojciechowski, we were excited, right? A 1st Round pick in 2010 by the Blue Jays, Wojciechowski just turned 24 in December, and at 6'4" 235lbs, is a big guy.
But when we - and likely you - checked Baseball-Reference, it was a little surprising. He had a good 2012 before coming to the Astros' organization, but there was that glaring 4.70 ERA (and his 4.03 FIP wasn't all that impressive for a 22-year old in high-A.
But thanks to this handy profile from the Charleston Post and Courier, we get some clues as to what happened:
Wojciechowski survived an early attempt by the Blue Jays to tinker with
his arm slot and the grip on his slider, leading to an 11-9 mark and
4.70 ERA in 2011, his first full season in the minors.
Wojciechowski:
“That just didn’t work for me. But it also
taught me what I need to do to get better, and what I need to stick to
and not change.”
Citadel baseball coach Fred Jordan thinks he profiles as an SP3:
“I feel very confident that if he throws the ball the way he did at the
end of last season, this year could be his call up. To
me, he is a big league team’s No. 3 starter, and I think that’s where
he’ll wind up if he stays healthy.”
It'll be interesting to see which level a lot of the recently-acquired pitchers begin the season. Corpus is a likely destination since he's only seen 43.2IP above High-A, but his 2.27 ERA (2.95 FIP) in those 43.2IP could mean a promotion, and not just to OKC.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
