Indians Top 100 Prospects: #68 Michael Finocchi

68. Michael Finocchi - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 04/28/1985 - Height: 6'0" - Weight: 195 - 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
2005	20	Burlington	R	0	2	3.14	18	0	1	28.2	32	10	0	5	22	1.6	6.9	1.29
2006	21	Lake County	A	4	1	3.44	19	0	0	36.2	42	14	1	14	24	3.4	5.9	1.53
	21	Kinston	A+	1	2	2.72	20	0	1	36.1	35	11	0	25	23	6.2	5.7	1.65
2007	22	Kinston	A+	3	2	2.84	30	0	3	57.0	56	18	0	26	36	4.1	5.7	1.44
	22	Akron	AA	2	1	4.67	15	0	2	17.1	16	9	1	5	16	2.6	8.3	1.21
2008		Kinston	A+	1	1	6.52	22	0	0	29.0	36	21	9	19	15	5.9	4.7	1.90
		Career		11	9	3.64	124	0	7	205.0	217	83	11	94	136	4.1	6.0	1.52

History: Finocchi was a 14th round pick in the 2005 Draft out of Louisburg College (PA). After a good year and very successful stint in the Arizona Fall League in 2007, one slip and fall on some ice in December 2007 pretty much ruined his 2008 season as he suffered a broken ankle and spent most of the season rehabbing the injury and was never 100% even when he came back.

Strengths & Opportunities: Finocchi has a power sinking fastball that sits around 92-94 MPH, and he complements it with a hard slider and changeup. He relies heavily on his sinkerball he pounds the zone to both sides of the plate and it is his out pitch. His slider is his best secondary pitch, while his changeup still needs work. He has a sturdy frame and is durable, and has the potential to be a late inning reliever who gets hitters to pound the ball into the ground. He is an extreme groundball pitcher, and even though he has not piled up strikeouts in the past he has shown the ability to strike batters out when needed.

When Finocchi returned to action in midseason last year he was never really 100% back from the ankle injury as he was unable to drive off his right foot, which resulted in his velocity dipping considerably and his pitches elevating more. In 2007 he had a 3.40 groundball to flyout ratio and a 3.72 ratio in 2006, but in 2008 his pitches were much more elevated as he only had a 1.65 ratio. Also, coming into the season he had only given up two home runs in 176 career professional innings, but surrendered a staggering nine home runs last year in just 29 innings. The problem was he was only sitting 88-89 MPH, which for a sinker-baller who often relies on the speed and torque on the pitch to get more downward movement a drop in velocity of 4-5 MPH is devastating as the pitch tends to flatten out. Going forward, he needs to continue working on his fastball command by throwing more first pitch strikes in order to effectively set up hitters and finish them off. The injury may have been a blessing for him as with the loss of velocity he had to learn how to pitch and not just throw, and the result was it made his slider a little bit better. He still needs to work on becoming more comfortable throwing his slider and using it early in the count for strikes.

Outlook: For a pitcher who throws as hard as Finocchi does and has sink on his pitches, he has a chance to be very successful and could be a valuable middle relief option for the Indians down the road. He should come into the 2009 season 100% healthy and ready to rebound from a disastrous 2008 campaign, and should start the 2009 season in the Double-A Akron bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Michael Finocchi MinorLeageBaseball.com stats page

Michael Finocchi Baseball-Reference page

Michael Finocchi MinorLeagueSplits.com page

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