8. Luiz Gohara, Atlanta Braves
When a young pitcher draws C.C. Sabathia comparisons, there are typically two reasons – one, his size, or two, his stuff from the left side. The second comparison is obviously a positive one as C.C. will likely retire as one of the winningest pitchers in the last 20 years, but the first one – well, that can be an issue.
Gohara has drawn those comps the last two years as his weight ballooned from the lower 200s to as much as 270 pounds, reportedly.
Gohara worked hard over the offseason before 2016 to really improve his conditioning to establish his ability to stay healthy and go deeper into games, losing 30 pounds over the offseason and as much as another 40 over the offseason.
He’s currently listed at 210 pounds, and at spring ball, he’s likely roughly 225ish, but he’s not put on bad weight back onto his frame as much as he’s begun adding in positive build to help add muscle to his wide frame.
Gohara was a major story of the Arizona Fall League as he surpassed the triple digit mark in velocity on his fastball with a slider featuring more velocity than any pitcher in the fall league and tremendous break.
Depending on the game you saw Gohara this season, you have different opinions on the change. He did not use the pitch much in the fall league as he was working out of the bullpen and in short stints.
In his Midwest League work, Gohara flashed a plus change up with possibility of even more in the pitch as he got excellent movement on the change, creating another swing and miss pitch, but even more so, he was getting extremely weak contact on the pitch as hitters pounded the change into the ground.
His weight loss helped his ability to maintain his mechanics on the mound, improving his command significantly and allowing Gohara to get much deeper into games.
The Braves acquired Gohara from Seattle over the offseason and will likely move him into the Rome group of pitchers that are moving up to their new high-A affiliate in the Florida State League this year.
7. Brady Aiken, Cleveland Indians
Still sadly more famous for his draft issues after being the third ever #1 overall pick not to sign with his drafting team, Aiken returned from Tommy John in 2016, and only threw 46 1/3 innings.
Those short collection of innings, though unimpressive in “fantasy” numbers flashed exactly what scouts wanted to see from Aiken in his recovery.
Typically, a pitcher in his first year back from TJS experiences his velocity returns bit by bit, and in the second year, command and control do the same.
When a pitcher struggles to regain velocity in that first year, that’s usually a bad sign, and in Aiken’s first work back, he was throwing in the low-90s after working more in the mid-90s in high school with his fastball.
By the end of the season, however, his velocity had returned, and one of his last starts in the New York-Penn League was notable for seeing his curveball back to the present plus and future plus-plus pitch it was before surgery and his change up flashing plus.
Aiken has a great pitcher’s frame at 6’4′ and 205 pounds listed, and he has exhibited fringe plus command as an amateur, so if he can recover even above average command, he could quickly move up this list even further.
The Indians will likely be cautious one more season with Aiken’s innings as he throws in full-season ball for the first time, likely giving him some extra time off as he regains arm strength to be turned loose in 2018.
Next: #6, #5