Rubby De La Rosa, a hot pitching prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, made the first start of his Major League career.
Here is a quick scouting breakdown for De La Rosa, his fastball sits around 93-95 and has been clocked as high as 102MPH. He has a change up that sits around 85-89MPH, with late downward fade and a slider. The off speed pitches still need some work and command is an issue. Baseball America projects Rubby to be a No.2 starter or a closer.
He has 5 appearances this season out of the Dodgers bullpen. In 5 innings, he has given up 3 hits, 1 walk while striking out 5.
I made it a point to watch his first start today, even though I’m a pretty big Giants fan. What I saw is a work in progress. He was having a hard time locating his off speed pitch. He walked 5 batters and plated a run do to a bases loaded walk. His fastball overall was very impressive. Very nice movement, sat around 91-93MPH. His off speed pitch issues worried me, only because his arm speed would slow down at times when throwing.
Overall, I don’t see him as a starer, I easily see him as a closer in the bullpen. His plus fastball with movement, I love. He could be racking up saves as soon as next season.
Here is his line from Today:
5IP | 4H | 1R | 1ER | 5BB | 4K 96P |46S
The last big leaguer to have a similar line to win, Carlos Zambrano 6/19/2010
(scouting information provided by Baseball America)