Indians Top 100 Prospects: #40 Erik Stiller

40. Erik Stiller - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/10/1984 - Height: 6'5" - Weight: 210 - 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
2006	21	Burlington	R	2	2	6.45	4	4	0	22.1	27	16	4	6	15	2.4	6.0	1.48
	21	Mahoning Vy	A-	3	3	3.23	9	8	0	47.1	40	17	3	7	22	1.3	4.2	0.99
2007	22	Kinston	A+	3	6	2.89	25	5	4	62.1	56	20	6	13	49	1.9	7.1	1.11
2008	23	Kinston	A+	1	0	2.79	9	0	0	19.1	15	6	1	9	27	4.2	12.6	1.24
	23	Akron	AA	6	5	4.13	35	0	0	56.2	47	26	5	21	55	3.3	8.7	1.20
		Career		15	16	3.68	82	17	4	208.0	185	85	19	56	168	2.4	7.3	1.16

History:  Stiller signed with the Indians as an undrafted free agent out of Princeton University shortly after the 2006 Draft.  At Princeton, Stiller had a career record of 15-14 with a 3.60 ERA in 38 starts.  He got a big break in that several of the Indians front office personnel are former Princeton student-athlete alumni, namely General Manager Mark Shapiro and Director of Baseball Operations Mike Chernoff.  Chernoff and Stiller were former teammates on the Princeton baseball team, as Chernoff was a middle infielder and team captain his senior year in 2003 when Stiller was a freshman. He participated in the Arizona Fall League, going 0-1 with a 9.37 ERA and in 16.1 innings allowed 27 hits, 4 walks and had 16 strikeouts in 13 relief appearances.  He also had a fantastic finish to the season last year where after a rough start getting acclimated to his callup to Double-A Akron in early May, from June 26^th through the playoffs in 39 total innings had a 2.05 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and .193 BAA. 

Strengths & Opportunities:  Stiller is built rock solid after gaining 15 pounds of good weight last season and is working hard this offseason looking to add more bulk to his frame.  His dedication in improving his overall physical strength has helped add velocity to his fastball, and he also made a few mechanical adjustments which has helped aide his fastball velocity.  His fastball went from topping out at 91 MPH in 2006 to the 94 MPH it tops out to now.  In addition to the fastball, Stiller also throws a cutter, curveball, and changeup. His best secondary pitch is his changeup, but being in the bullpen and it being a feel pitch he rarely uses it.  With his height at 6'5" it helps him get on top of hitters and his ball moving on a downward plane, and he is extremely intelligent. 

Stiller has had a meteoric rise in the system considering he was an undrafted free agent signing just a little over two years ago.  After finishing the 2006 season at short-season Mahoning Valley he opened the 2007 season in extended spring training and was eventually activated and rostered at advanced Single-A Kinston in late May of that year.  Since then he has impressed and moved fast in the organization where in less than two years time he finished up in Double-A Akron.  His initial callup to Akron this year was a big jump for him, and he struggled there early, but he eventually settled in and was one of Akron's most consistent relievers the second half of the season by pounding the zone as well as using and mixing his stuff a little better which allowed him to have success. 

He can start or relieve, but at this point it looks like the Indians are pretty committed to developing him as a reliever.  His over the top delivery can leave very little room for error with his release point and he does not get a lot of left and right movement on his fastball.  His main priority for 2009 is to continue working on developing a consistent release point, being more aggressive with his fastball and commanding it down in the zone, and refining his changeup.  He also needs to make sure he is throwing out front as he is pretty long. 

Outlook:  With his size and the way he goes about his business Stiller is quietly climbing the ladder and making people take notice of him, and has shown flashes of being a good middle relief prospect.  Stiller's destination to start the 2009 season is uncertain because of the Indians bullpen depth at Triple-A Columbus.  Given the logjam of relievers in the upper levels of the system, he probably will open the season in the Double-A Akron bullpen, but provided he is performing well and is healthy he should get significant time in Columbus at some point this season. 

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr 

Erik Stiller MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Erik Stiller Baseball-Reference page 

Erik Stiller MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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