Indians Top 100 Prospects: #62 Vinnie Pestano

62. Vinnie Pestano - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 02/20/1985 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 205 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2007	22	Mahoning Vy	A-	1	1	3.57	21	0	6	22.2	17	9	5	7	27	2.8	10.7	1.06
2008	23	Lake County	A	1	1	1.55	29	0	15	29.0	25	5	1	13	23	4.0	7.1	1.31
	23	Kinston	A+	1	2	4.00	25	0	9	27.0	23	12	1	11	27	3.7	9.0	1.26
		Career		3	4	2.97	75	0	30	78.2	65	26	7	31	77	3.6	8.9	1.23

History:  Pestano was a 20th round pick in the 2006 Draft out of Cal-State Fullerton.  As a college junior, he was one of the top relief prospects in the country going into the 2006 Draft, but a serious elbow injury early in the season sidelined him and put his professional baseball career in jeopardy.  He had Tommy John surgery performed on July 21, 2006, but the Indians were not scared away as they liked his potential and eventually signed him on August 17th, 2006 to a professional contract. 

Strengths & Opportunities:  Pestano does not blow hitters away with his 89-90 MPH two-seam fastball, but the ball gets a lot of movement with late run and sink because of his side-arm delivery which comes from a low three-quarter arm slot.  He actually used to throw over the top in high school, but when he got to Cal-St Fullerton he dropped to the side and experienced a lot of success with it so stuck with it.  As he continues to regain health he may also see his average velocity tick up a MPH or two.  He also throws a breaking ball that is more a slurve, but since his elbow injury he still has not gotten the feel and command back for it.  He also fooled around with a changeup that has good movement on it, but it lacked deception as the velocity was not much different from his fastball and it was often hammered.  Since he pitches out of the bullpen the pitch was scrapped and he now only throws his fastball and breaking ball. 

Pestano pitches to contact and relies on groundballs and keeping hitters off balance.  He may not have outstanding stuff or a fastball he can blow by hitters, but one of the things that make him such a strong late inning reliever is his exceptional makeup.  He is tenacious on the mound battling every pitch, and goes right after hitters.  He is a very confident pitcher who pounds the zone, and even with the low velocity projects as a backend bullpen guy because of that makeup.  He needs more work maintaining his delivery as he tends to fall off to the third base side.  He needs to continue through his delivery and finish out front which will result in better balance and landing through the glove. 

Outlook:  As a two pitch pitcher, commanding his fastball and slurve to both sides of the plate is paramount to Pestano's success as a pitcher as he moves up the minor league ladder.  He has the eyes to pitch in the late innings because nothing rattles him.  He likely will start the 2009 season as the closer at advanced Single-A Kinston, but should see significant time at Double-A Akron as well. 

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr 

Vinnie Pestano MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Vinnie Pestano Baseball-Reference page 

Vinnie Pestano MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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