Kyle Drabek

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Kyle Drabek

Toronto Blue Jays – No. 4
Pitcher
Born: December 8, 1987 (1987-12-08) (age 24)
Victoria, Texas
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
MLB debut
September 15, 2010 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics
(through 2011 Season)
Win-loss record     4-8
Earned run average     5.83
Strikeouts     63
WHIP     1.72
Teams

Kyle Jordan Drabek (born December 8, 1987) is an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his first major league start on September 15, 2010 against the Baltimore Orioles.

He is the son of former major-league pitcher and 1990 National League Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek. He also wears a single-digit uniform number (4), a rarity amongst pitchers.[1]

Contents

[edit] High school

Drabek attended The Woodlands High School. While there he was an Aflac, USA Today, and Louisville Slugger high-school All-American at pitcher and shortstop.[2] Drabek was paired up on a Houston summer team with fellow Texas prospect and current Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jay Bruce. While in high school, Drabek was named 2005 and 2006 Texas 5-A player of the year. During the 2006 spring season, the Highlanders won the Texas 5-A State Championship.[3] During his high-school career, Drabek compiled a record of 30-1 on the mound while belting 27 home runs. In the 2006 Texas regional semifinal, he set The Woodlands High School record for most strikeouts in a game by a pitcher (19), recording a no-hitter.[4]

He first wore his MLB number (4) as a wide receiver on The Woodlands varsity football team. He wore number 1 for baseball.[1]

[edit] Minor League Baseball

In the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, Drabek was selected in the first round by the Philadelphia Phillies as the 18th overall pick.[4] He had been ranked as the twelfth-best prospect in the draft by Baseball America, but was drafted in a lower position because, at the time of the draft, there were concerns about personal incidents.[4] Marti Wolever, director of scouting for the Phillies, stated of the issues that the Phillies "feel very good about this selection. We think everything is behind him and we're moving on."[4] The Phillies opted to develop Drabek as a pitcher in their farm system.[4]

Drabek learned from the experiences of his father.[5] He also described his father's involvement to be "like having a pitching coach who lives with you ... He taught me so much, not only about the physical part of the game but the mental part too."[6]

"What kind of things I should expect. I think it's going to give me a little bit more of an advantage because he's been through everything. I know what to look out for because of him."
—Kyle Drabek, Houston Chronicle[5]

He made four pitching appearances in the Gulf Coast League (for rookies) since his comeback from Tommy John surgery. He was then promoted to the Short-Season A Williamsport Crosscutters. After a dominant start to the season with the Class A–Advanced Clearwater Threshers, Drabek was promoted to the Class AA Reading Phillies on June 1, 2009.[7] He was invited to the 2009 All-Star Futures Game, in which he pitched one inning.[8]

Drabek received the Paul Owens Award from the Phillies in a pre-game ceremony at Citizens Bank Park on September 15, 2009. The annual award is presented to the top pitcher and the top position player in the Phillies' minor-league system.[9]

Drabek was one of the key players involved in "The Doc Deal", the trade which sent Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay to the Phillies in exchange for Drabek, Travis D' Arnaud, and Michael Taylor in early December. He was officially announced as a member of the Blue Jays on December 16, 2009.[10] Drabek threw the second no-hitter in New Hampshire Fisher Cats history on Independence Day, 2010. The final score was 5-0 over the New Britain Rock Cats, as he walked two and struck out three.[11][12]

Drabek was voted the 2010 Eastern League pitcher of the year.[13] Drabek attributed some of his success to a more consistent delivery, for which the point of release for different pitches appeared the same to batters. “In the beginning, it was like I had different movements for different pitches. Now, everything comes the same and everything stays the same.”[14]

[edit] Major League Baseball

[edit] 2011

The Blue Jays announced on September 12, 2010 that Drabek would be promoted to make his major league debut on September 15.[15] At the time, he was considered the Blue Jays top pitching prospect[16][17] and amongst the top prospects in baseball.[18] On April 2, Drabek earned his first Major League win against the Minnesota Twins, throwing 101 pitches through 7 innings, with 7 strikeouts, giving up only 1 hit and 1 earned run.[19] His father, Doug Drabek, also earned his first career win against the Minnesota Twins in 1986.

His worst career outing occurred on June 1, 2011, when he lasted only 0.2 innings versus the Cleveland Indians. He would use 38 pitches, allowing 4 earned runs on 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 strikeout.[20]

On June 14, the Blue Jays announced that Drabek had been optioned to AAA Las Vegas. Zach Stewart took his place in the rotation.[21] Drabek was recalled from the minors on September 7.[22]

[edit] Pitching style

Drabek throws a Four-seam fastball that had an average velocity of 93 mph [23] in 2011. He also throws a slower two seam fastball with more movement on top of a slider, changeup and curveball. Among his pitches only his curve ball is regarded as a true plus pitch. [24]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Kepner, Tyler. "For Kyle Drabek, It's No. 4, the One and Only," Bats (The New York Times baseball blog), Saturday, May 28, 2011.
  2. ^ "Kyle Drabek". 2005 Aflac All-American Baseball Classic. Aflac Inc. Archived from the original on 2008-06-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20080625045746/http://www.aflacallamerican.com/History/2005/Roster/index.cfm?id=101. 
  3. ^ Joel, Weckerly (2006-06-10). "Highlanders win 5A state championship". The Woodlands High School. http://www.wlehmann.com/Twhs/News/06_0611-VR-Courier.html. Retrieved 2010-09-14. "The Woodlands won the championship on the backs of three senior stars, Kyle Drabek, Steven Maxwell and [Paul] Goldschmidt." 
  4. ^ a b c d e Mandel, Ken (2006-06-06). "Phils select righty Drabek at No. 18". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060606&content_id=1491132&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
  5. ^ a b Davis, Emily (2006-06-07). "Kyle Drabek follows in father's footsteps to pro baseball". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3945678.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
  6. ^ Kerzel, Pete (2010-09-13). "Right-hander slated to face Baltimore on Wednesday". MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100913&content_id=14622656&notebook_id=14623658&vkey=notebook_tor&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
  7. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/Drabek_promoted_to_Reading.html
  8. ^ Zolecki, Todd (2009-07-12). "Phillies top pitching prospect tosses perfect second frame". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090712&content_id=5851720&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
  9. ^ Hagen, Paul, "Phillies minor leaguers Drabek, Taylor receive awards", Philadelphia Daily News, Sept. 16, 2009. Philly.com; Philadelphia Newspapers' Reorganization. Retrieved 2009-09-18. See List of Philadelphia Phillies award winners and league leaders#Paul Owens Award.
  10. ^ "Blue Jays complete Halladay trade". MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. 2009-12-16. http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20091216&content_id=7817972&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  11. ^ Lott, John (2010-07-04). "Kyle Drabek hurls no-hitter for Jays’ Double-A club". National Post. http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/07/04/kyle-drabek-hurls-no-hitter-for-jays-double-a-club/. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  12. ^ "Fisher Cats’ Kyle Drabek No-Hits New Britain Rock Cats On Fourth Of July". Manchester: NHReporter.com. 2010-07-05. http://nhreporter.com/2010/07/05/fisher-cats-kyle-drabek-no-hits-new-britain-rock-cats-on-fourth-of-july/. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  13. ^ Lott, John (2010-09-10). "Jays send playoff reinforcements to farm club". National Post. http://sports.nationalpost.com/2010/09/10/jays-send-playoff-reinforcements-to-farm-club/. Retrieved 2010-09-14. "Drabek was voted the Eastern League’s pitcher of the year after posting a 14-9 record and 2.94 ERA. Stewart was 8-3, 3.63 in his first full season as a starter." 
  14. ^ Blair, Jeff (2010-09-14). "Drabek buzz grows louder". The Globe and Mail (Baltimore). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/drabek-buzz-grows-louder/article1706490/. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
  15. ^ "Kyle Drabek, crown jewel of Jays system, to start Wednesday". The Canadian Press. The Sports Network. 2010-09-12. http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=333549. Retrieved 2010-09-14. "Sunday's announcement by general manager Alex Anthopoulos comes just two days after Drabek's double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats were eliminated from the Eastern League playoffs." 
  16. ^ "Blue Jays hope to avoid sweep by Orioles in Drabek's debut". The Sports Network. 2010-09-15. http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=333863. Retrieved 2010-09-15. "Considered the top arm in the Blue Jays system, Drabek was one of the key pieces obtained by Toronto in the blockbuster offseason trade that sent former staff ace Roy Halladay to Philadelphia." 
  17. ^ Harrison, Doug (2010-09-15). "Baseball preview: Blue Jays vs. Orioles". CBC Sports. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2010/09/15/sp-bluejays-orioles-preview.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15. "All eyes will be on the Blue Jays' top pitching prospect as he makes his major-league debut." 
  18. ^ "Blue Jays-Orioles Preview". ESPN.com. STATS, Inc.. 2010-09-15. http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=300915101. Retrieved 2010-09-15. 
  19. ^ http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_04_02_minmlb_tormlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=tor
  20. ^ http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_06_01_clemlb_tormlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=tor
  21. ^ http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110614&content_id=20466456&vkey=news_tor&c_id=tor
  22. ^ Drabek to join Blue Jays' bullpen Wednesday
  23. ^ http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=4359&position=P#pitchtype
  24. ^ http://projectprospect.com/article/2010/03/20/kyle-drabek-scouting-report

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kyle Drabek
Toronto Blue Jays current roster
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Manager 52 John Farrell | Bench Coach 22 Don Wakamatsu | 1st Base Coach 7 Torey Lovullo | 3rd Base Coach 55 Brian Butterfield | Hitting Coach 41 Dwayne Murphy | Pitching Coach 53 Bruce Walton | Bullpen Coach 40 Pete Walker | Bullpen Catcher 61 Alex Andreopoulos | Coach 63 Luis Rivera


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