Indians Top 100 Prospects: #47 Ryan Edell

47. Ryan Edell - Left-handed Pitcher
Born: 07/06/1983 - Height: 6'1" - Weight: 195 - Bats: Left - Throws: Left

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2005	21	Mahoning Vy	A-	3	4	2.95	14	11	0	64.0	65	21	5	18	62	2.5	8.7	1.30
2006	22	Lake County	A-	0	1	3.44	6	6	0	18.1	19	7	2	5	12	2.5	5.9	1.31
2007	23	Kinston	A+	11	6	3.70	31	17	1	121.2	122	50	12	31	109	2.3	8.1	1.26
2008	24	Akron	AA	7	8	3.80	26	26	0	144.1	146	61	14	21	99	1.3	6.2	1.16
		Career		21	19	3.59	77	60	1	348.1	352	139	33	75	282	1.9	7.3	1.23

History: Edell was an 8th round pick in the 2005 Draft out of The College of Charleston. He missed most of the 2006 season with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament pitching in only six games, but was fortunate to avoid Tommy John surgery and came back with a very strong 2007 season at advanced Single-A Kinston.

Strengths & Opportunities: Edell has a three pitch mix of a fastball, slider and changeup. His fastball only sits around 90-91 MPH, but his command of it has been outstanding and he has shown good control and the ability to spot it to get ahead of hitters. His bread and butter pitch used to be a devastating curveball which was rated the best in the 2005 Draft and considered a major league out pitch, but he lost the feel for it upon coming into the Indians organization and stopped throwing it and started throwing a slider instead. This past season did some work to try and add his curveball back into his pitching mix with mixed results. He does not have dominating stuff and is more a grinder in the rotation where he gets the job done without doing anything flashy. He is quiet and soft spoken, and is very much the definition of what a low-key player is all about.

Edell has a very low effort and professional delivery that he repeats well, and drives his fastball into the zone and in on the hands of the batter with ease. He shows very good composure when pitching in tight spots. He is versatile enough where he could remain a starter or move to the bullpen depending on where the Indians need him as his slider can attack lefties and his changeup is good enough to be effective against righties. While he has done a good job as a starter, he probably best profiles as a major league left-handed reliever. He has had limited experience pitching out of the bullpen, with the 2007 season being the first time he had pitched out of the bullpen in his professional career although he had some prior experience in the bullpen pitching in the Alaska Summer League when he came out of college. He is still working on his secondary pitches to get more consistent with them and throw them for strikes, and has gotten a lot better with repeating his delivery. His biggest problem is he gets in trouble at times where he elevates his pitches and they hang over the plate, so he needs to continue working on his mechanics to keep the ball down in the bottom half of the zone.

Outlook: Due to the starting pitching depth in the upper levels of the system, Edell looks to be in line for a move to the bullpen or a swing role in 2009. In any case, he should open the season with Triple-A Columbus.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

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