Indians Top 50: #32 Trey Haley

32. Trey Haley - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 06/21/1990 - Height: 6'3" - Weight: 180 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2008	18	GCL Indians	R	0	0	0.00	1	1	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	9.0	9.0	1.00
2008	18	Mahoning Vy	A-	0	1	54.00	2	1	1.1	4	8	0	6	1	.571	49.1	8.2	9.09
2009	19	Lake County	A	4	8	5.56	19	16	77.2	70	48	6	65	57	.241	7.6	6.6	1.75
		Totals		4	9	6.30	22	18	80.0	74	56	6	72	59	.245	8.1	6.6	1.83

History:  Haley was the Indians 2nd round pick in the 2008 Draft out of Central Heights High School (TX).  As a senior in high school in 2008 he went 8-2 with a 1.55 ERA in 13 games (50 IP, 23 H, 34 BB, 98 K).  He had signed a letter of intent to pitch for Rice University before signing with the Indians for $1.25 million just hours before the August signing deadline.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Haley is a raw, projectable power pitcher who has all the physical tools to a special pitcher.   He has an electric four pitch mix of a two seam fastball, four seam fastball, curveball, and changeup, with his two-seamer and curveball considered plus pitches.  His two-seamer has good movement and sits around 91-94 MPH and already tops out at 96 MPH, and because of his youth he has the arm and body o grow and add more velocity down the road.  His plus curveball comes in at 77-81 MPH and shows good depth and should be a weapon for him as he grows into a pitcher in the coming years.  His four-seamer and changeup are barely average pitches at the moment, but this is mostly due to his inexperience in using them since he never had to really throw the changeup in high school and the four-seamer was added to his mix after he was drafted.  He is still learning to get a feel for his changeup which sits at 82-84 MPH, but it has shown some flashes of deception and has the makings of being a good pitch for him.

The Indians feel that with Haley's fastball velocity that all he needs is to be able to throw something off-speed that he can consistently command down in the zone, which is why a heavy focus has been placed on developing his changeup.  The addition of the four-seamer should help give him a different look with his fastball as it will still be hard but have little movement as compared to his two-seamer which has good sink and run.  He is very competitive, intelligent, and he has good poise on the mound. The Indians love his projectable frame, arm strength, athleticism, good delivery and two outstanding pitches, and they feel he is still growing on the mound and gaining maturity.

From a numbers perspective, one would think Haley had a bad year last year at Low-A Lake County.  This is quite the contrary as he showed a lot of progress, and there was a lot more going on behind the scenes to explain some of his awful stats.  He was young and very raw when he joined the Lake County rotation midseason, so the inconsistent performance and issues with command were expected for a just turned 19-year old kid pitching against a lot of hitters three to four years older than him.  He was pitching with some reworked mechanics and learning to adapt to them, but he was also primarily pitching with his third and fourth best pitch every night - his four seam fastball and curveball - in order to get used to throwing and developing them.  Prior to joining the Indians he had never thrown a four-seam fastball before, so he spent a lot of time in games last year working on establishing and developing the pitch.  His two-seam fastball, which is his best pitch, was rarely used in order not to hinder his progress in establishing command of the four-seamer.

Since Haley was extremely limited in using his two best pitches his two-seamer and curveball and instead was using his four-seamer and changeup almost exclusively, it had a big affect on his overall numbers and is why he had so many walks and a low strikeout total.  While it was surely frustrating for him to see the numbers and know they could be a lot better if he were just allowed to rare back and fire his two-seamer and bust off his curveball at will, he understood the dramatic changes that were being asked of him in order to develop him into a complete pitcher and be able to get hitters out at higher levels.  So the poor numbers were a large byproduct of such inconsistent command with the four-seamer and changeup, but if he can learn to harness the command of them it will only vault up his pitch ability.  The Indians knew the adjustments that they were asking him to make would end up in walks and that what they were asking him to do would create less consistency in the short term.  But they are hopeful with the changes put in place and the amount of time he had to develop his four-seamer and changeup that he will benefit from it in the long term.  They really believe that he showed progress throughout last season.  The walks are surely a concern, but he is such a good athlete and is extremely hardworking that they are very optimistic that the changes will work out for him and his walk numbers will decrease soon.

While there is a lot to like about Haley, there are also a lot of potential pitfalls with him because he is so raw and unpolished.  The Indians spent a lot of time in Instructional League back in 2008 as well as spring training and extended spring training last year to work on some things with his mechanics and delivery and just give him a better foundation with which to build on as he went into his first full professional season.  They also worked with him on developing a routine which helped him to improve and get better each day.  He has a live, loose body and lanky frame, and as a result he at times has trouble maintaining the tempo and rhythm within his delivery so that his body and arm work at the same speed.  When he does that he is just fine, but when he doesn't maintain it trouble surfaces.  He still needs to work on throwing strikes more consistently, but this is a part of his game which will continue to be worked on over the course of the next several seasons.  While he made some solid adjustments with refining his delivery, getting body control, repeating his arm slot, and throwing the ball over the plate, he still has a ways to go in all of these areas.  He is young, so he needs to learn to become a pitcher rather than a thrower.

In addition to developing his secondary offerings, another area of focus for Haley has been with his mechanics since he has a tendency to overthrow.  To counteract this issue, he has worked on getting out front and staying over the rubber, keep his stride on, and using his hands better.  A slider may also be incorporated later.  Bottom line, there is no telling what he can become once he adapts to all of the mechanical changes and is able to start throwing his bread and butter pitches again, his two-seam fastball and curveball.

Outlook:  Haley looks like he will be a boom or bust guy for the Indians because while there are so many physical attributes to love about him, he is so raw that the opportunity to miss on him is far greater than a player with the same stuff in their early 20s who is a little more established.  His first few years in the organization are going to be all about developing his pitch mix, command and mechanics, and with that will be a lot of bumps in the road.  He held up well last year in what was a very frustrating season for him in being so restricted in pitching to his strengths, but in the same sense the poise and commitment he showed was encouraging.  If the changes the Indians implemented pan out, they have the potential for a front end of the rotation starter.  He should open the 2010 season with a return trip to Low-A Lake County to continue his development, and depending on how things go could be moved up to High-A Kinston later in the year.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

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