Mike Pontius

Mike Pontius - Right-handed Pitcher
Age: 20 Height: 6'2" Weight: 235 Bats: Right Throws: Right

	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	BB9	K9	WHIP
2007 GCL/Lake	0	3	5.03	20	0	2	34.0	33	19	4	13	40	3.44	10.59	1.35
Career	0	3	5.03	20	0	2	34.0	33	19	4	13	40	3.44	10.59	1.35

History: The Indians selected Pontius in the 43^rd round of the 2006 Draft out of high school (MO). Pontius signed in August of 2006, and made his professional debut last year starting in the Gulf Coast League (GCL) before he finished up in Lake County. He held opposing hitters to a .246 batting average against, and had 40 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched.

Strengths & Opportunities: Pontius is a strongly built kid who looks like he should be playing football, and is armed with power stuff, has no fear, and could be a closer type down the road. Pontius has plus-plus arm strength and a blazing fastball that consistently clocks in at 94-96 MPH, and tops out at 97 MPH. His fastball is part of a three-pitch mix where he also throws a curveball and changeup.

Pontius is still very young and learning how to throw his curveball and changeup, as he got by in high school just throwing fastballs since no one could touch it. At this point it is too early to tell what he will have with his curveball and changeup, but the curveball has shown good depth, has sharp 11-5 break, and can be an out pitch at the major league level. His changeup is still a work in progress, and he also experimented with a cutter last season with mixed results.

The Indians do not want to pigeonhole Pontius as a backend reliever yet as he still is only 20 years old, but he has a hard time repeating his delivery. With his fastball and issues with his delivery mechanics, it makes him an ideal candidate for a backend bullpen role down the road, possibly even closer. To be a starter, a pitcher has to be able to repeat his delivery and have at least three pitches. The Indians want to keep him a starter as long as possible because staying in the rotation provides many more opportunities to pitch into jams and see every game situation, where as a reliever a lot of times a pitcher will come in with a clean slate and there is only so much he can learn in the limited amount of innings he works. If a pitcher can get out there five or more innings a start, he goes through a gamut of game situations and defensive positioning. Going forward, he needs to keep working on his fastball command and cleaning up his delivery mechanics.

Outlook: Last year Pontius pitched out of the bullpen, but there is no guarantee he will start in the bullpen in 2008 and may end up in the starting rotation in order to stretch him out. While the Indians will not commit to it now, Pontius is most likely destined for a relief role, and should open the season at Lake County.

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