Indians Top 50: #38 Connor Graham

Connor Graham - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 12/30/1985 - Height: 6'6" - Weight: 235 - 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
2007	21	Tri-City	A-	1	0	2.37	6	4	19.0	23	5	2	6	18	.303	2.8	8.5	1.53
2008	22	Asheville	A	12	6	2.26	26	26	147.1	99	37	3	83	138	.189	5.1	8.4	1.24
2009	23	Modesto	A+	7	4	3.14	16	16	80.1	68	28	2	41	87	.225	4.6	9.8	1.36
2009	23	Akron	AA	1	3	4.93	8	7	38.1	40	21	3	25	39	.268	5.9	9.2	1.71
		Totals		21	13	2.87	56	53	285.0	230	91	10	155	282	.219	4.9	8.9	1.35

History: Graham was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 5th round of the 2007 Draft out of Miami, OH University.  The Indians acquired him in a trade with the Rockies on July 23, 2009 for Rafael Betancourt.  Prior to acquiring him, the Indians already had a good book on Graham after scouting him at Miami, OH several times and had him in for a pre-draft workout at Akron.  His trade to the Indians is sort of a homecoming for him as he grew up in Bowling Green, OH and played college baseball for Miami, OH.  His wife is also from Dayton, OH.  He pitched in the Arizona Fall League this past fall, and in 11 games went 1-1 with a 6.08 ERA and allowed 14 hits, 18 walks and had 16 strikeouts in 13.1 innings pitched.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Graham is a big, massive, intimidating, power body, power armed pitcher with a four pitch mix.  He has the stuff to dominate and overmatch hitters.  His power fastball consistently jumps out of his hand at 92-94 MPH but he gets it all the way up to 97 MPH, and it is his best pitch when he is commanding it.  He has the makings of a swing-and-miss plus slider that has hard, biting action and sits in the low 80s, and he does a good job of keeping it underneath the hands of lefties and away from righties.  He also throws a changeup which is still a work in progress, but it has shown some promise to become an average pitch in his arsenal.  He recently added a spilt-finger fastball back into his arsenal this offseason which is a pitch he has experience with but has not thrown since college.  He is a very positive player with a lot of intelligence, and has a ton of work ethic.

Graham's fastball command comes and goes, but his secondary pitches are pretty consistent.  His success will largely be determined by how well he can command both sides of the plate with his mid-90s fastball and throw consistent, quality strikes with it.  The ability to command and control his fastball will be a big key in helping play up the effectiveness of his plus slider, changeup and splitter.  He wore down near the end of last season which may have been a result of being in poor shape and condition since the Rockies banned him from lifting weights and working out in the spring.  His walk totals increased while with Akron, and they exploded in the Arizona Fall League, which are all signs of a tired pitcher.  The Indians believe that if he is in better shape that improvements to his delivery and command will come in due time.

Graham is listed at 6'6" 235 pounds, but it doesn't do him justice as in person he looks much bigger.  He has some significant upside either way, and is very raw as a pitcher.   Because he is a big, physical pitcher and is so raw, he has trouble repeating his delivery and arm action which results in erratic release points and the inconsistent command. He needs to develop his strike throwing ability, work on better establishing his fastball down in the zone, and finish off the development of his slider.  The Indians believe the best place to do all this is in the starting rotation.  As a starter, a pitcher throws more pitches and more innings going 75-100 pitches a night with a regular workout day in between where more pitches are thrown on the side, whereas in the bullpen a pitcher will go one to two innings and then be off for two to three days before making another appearance.  When they initially acquired him they left him in the starting rotation, but it looks very likely that he will be converted to a reliever this coming season.

Outlook:  Graham has shown flashes of brilliance combined with lots of inconsistency.  If he can get a better handle on his delivery and command, the Indians may have a real diamond in the rough.  When the Indians acquired him from Colorado they kept him in the rotation, but it looks like this season he will be moved to the bullpen either at the start of the year or later in the season.  He is never going to be a surgeon on the mound, but could end up a solid mid-rotation starter or a backend reliever if he is able to make some strides with his command.  He will open the season at Double-A Akron, and while it is not certain if he will start or relieve, he likely will pitch out of the bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Connor Graham MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Connor Graham Baseball-Reference page

Connor Graham MinorLeagueSplits.com page

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