Talking Chop

From Baseball America's writeup of the top-20 prospects in the Hawaiian Winter League, our lefty starter Jonny Venters was ranked as the 14th-best in the league:

Venters ranked as the league's second-best lefthander (among U.S.-affiliated players) for several observers, trailing only [Jeremy] Bleich. A draft-and-follow signee, Venters has taken his time to develop but showed three average pitches in Hawaii. His fastball sits in the 87-90 mph range, at times touching 92. His slider remains too inconsistent for some scouts, but others saw it as an average pitch that flashed plus at times. His changeup is his best pitch, and he projects as a back-of-the-rotation starter.

"His fastball is deceptive and heavy," Cole said. "He hides it well, and his change gives him a putaway pitch."

Nice review of Venters, though I think the jury's still out on him, and even with a good year in Mississippi next season he will likely only turn into next year's James Parr. Gosh, it sure seems like so many of the young pitchers the Braves had high hopes for are turning into back of the rotation starters. Even guys like Chuck James, Horacio Ramirez, and Kyle Davies, who had strong starts to their careers fell into a back-end of the rotation starter mold at best. While I like the good news on Venters, I'm still not going to get too excited about these kinds of guys... I'm waiting on Tommy Hanson.

In 8 games, 7 starts and 31 innings pitched, Venters had a 2.90 ERA, 33 hits, 1 HR, 8 walks, and 26 strikeouts. He is elidgible for the Rule V draft this year, though it's unlikely anyone will take a chance on him.