Josh Collmenter

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Arizona Diamondbacks #32 prospect in 2011
  Collmenter confounds scouts by continuing to get batters out with his mostly unimpressive stuff. He pitched at three levels in 2010, posting a combined record of 14-6, 3.38 with 133 strikeouts in 152 innings while reaching Triple-A. He finished the year with an impressive 4-0, 3.04 stint in the Arizona Fall League. Collmenter adds deception to his pitches by hiding the ball behind his thick body before delivering it with a funky, over-the-top delivery with a pause in the middle. He does a good job of command his football, though it sits at 85-88 mph and lacks life. His best pitch is a plus changeup that he delivers on the same plane as his fastball, and he can vary the speed on hit from the low 60s to the high 70s. His average curveball comes out of the same arm slot as his other two pitches, making it more difficult to pickup. Collmenter's stuff doesn't seem good enough to be a big league starter, but the Diamondbacks will keep him in the rotation as long as he keeps succeeding. They added him to the 40-man roster in November. He'll return to Triple-A Reno to begin 2011 and is on track to make his big league debut later in the year.
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  Ranked Arizona Diamondbacks #23 prospect in 2010
  Collmenter doesn't look pretty and isn't overpowering, but he misses bats and has pitched his way into prospect status. Though he had a successful career at Central Michigan, his thick body and mixed signals about his signability dropped him to the 15th round of the 2007 draft, where he signed for $80,000. He led the Northwest League with a 2.71 ERA in his pro debut, and he topped the high Class A California League with 152 strikeouts in 145 innings last season. Collmenter's over-the-top delivery may make scouts cringe, but it creates deception because hitters don't see it very often. His fastball usually sits at 86-88 but it's hard to square up because of its natural cutting action. At times, his heater can reach the low 90s. His changeup is a strikeout pitch, and he also uses a slow curveball. Collmenter has tremendous feel for pitching, keeping hitters off balance by adding and subtracting from each of his pitches. He has been known to experiment on the mound, throwing an eephus pitch and knuckleball in college. Collmenter will have to prove himself again in 2010, this time in Double-A, but he's starting to look like a back-of-the-rotation option.