Kelvin Pichardo Stats & Scouting Report — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

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The Giants can find power arms anywhere--high schools, colleges, internationally, position players they convert, small colleges, and, yes, in trades. They obtained Pichardo from the Phillies in an August 2005 deal for Michael Tucker and toyed with Pichardo in a starter's role in 2006. He battled arm issues that season and was moved to the bullpen full-time last year. As a reliever, he stayed healthy while showing significant improvement and good durability. Pichardo flashes three quality pitches, the best of which is a fastball that at times sits at 94-96 mph with good life. His delivery requires lots of effort and he tends to overthrow, with his command suffering as a result. When he throws strikes and gets ahead of hitters, though, he can finish them off with his power breaking ball that's a cross between a curveball and slider. Double-A hitters didn't chase the pitch as frequently when it was out of the zone. He has flashed a decent changeup with good arm speed as well. The Giants protected Pichardo on their 40-man roster in the offseason, and with a strong start at Triple-A, he'll be on the verge of making his big league debut at age 22.

Pichardo showed flashes of dominance but was still searching for consistency at San Jose. He flashed three quality pitches while averaging 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings. His top offering is a lively 94-96 mph fastball. He also has a curveball that's a plus pitch at times, and he shows good arm action on his changeup. Pichardo was unhittable when he could get his curve over the plate, but he lacked confidence in it and often relied on his fastball. He also tended to overthrow his fastball, leading to control issues that worsened following his promotion to Double-A.