2010 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #40 Hector Ambriz

Hector Ambriz - Right-handed Pitcher Born: 05/24/1984 - Height: 6'2" - Weight: 235 - Bats: Left - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2006	22	Missoula	R	1	3	1.91	15	4	42.1	29	9	1	11	52	.192	2.4	11.12	0.95
2007	23	Visalia	A+	10	8	4.08	28	26	150.0	137	68	12	50	133	.241	3.0	7.98	1.25
2008	24	Mobile Bay	AA	5	13	4.89	27	26	152.2	155	83	22	47	118	.262	2.8	6.98	1.33
2009	25	Mobile Bay	AA	3	2	2.17	5	5	29.0	18	7	1	6	32	.180	1.9	9.93	0.83
2009	25	Reno	AAA	9	9	5.57	23	22	127.2	164	79	12	40	103	.312	2.8	7.29	1.60
		Totals		28	35	4.41	98	83	501.2	503	246	48	154	438	.260	2.8	7.87	1.31

History:  Ambriz was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 5th round of the 2006 Draft out of UCLA.  The Indians picked him up in the Rule 5 Draft this past December, their first Rule 5 selection in seven years.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Ambriz is an interesting arm the Indians were able to scoop up out of the Arizona Diamondbacks system.  He throws from a high three quarter arm slot and throws a fastball that sits at 90-94 MPH and has touched 95 MPH.  The Indians believe his secondary pitches have a chance to have power to them, and he complements the fastball with a really good splitter which is considered his out pitch and has some hard, power sink to it.  He also throws a slider that shows some good hard, late bite, and a curveball which is clearly his fourth best pitch in his arsenal has good depth but he lacks command of it in the strike zone.  He is a polished pitcher who has a good history going all the way back to college of being a very good strike thrower.

After a lot of research and discussions with their scouts, the Indians decided that a move to the bullpen is a role that best suits Ambriz.  The feeling is coming out of the bullpen he has a chance to be a little more effective and his stuff has a chance to play up in the role.  His fastball-splitter combination could be very effective for one inning stints, though he is still expected to mix in his slider and curveball.  He battles and competes well.  The biggest question mark will be how he adapts to the sudden change of being given a big league opportunity and how he translates to the big leagues.  He has the physical resemblance of Carlos Zambrano, and there are also some concerns with his conditioning and work ethic in regard to staying in shape since he is soft through his mid-section.

The pickup of Ambriz was not something that came out of nowhere.  The Indians have some history and a track record with him as they got a lot of looks at him back when he was pitching for UCLA the same year they were heavily scouting left-hander David Huff who they eventually took with their supplemental first round pick in the 2006 Draft while Ambriz was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 5th round that same year.  So given their history with him in the past along with their current assessment of his performance and development during his time with the Diamondbacks they believe they have a pretty fair idea of what kind of pitcher he is and what they are getting.

Outlook:  With so many internal options to sift through for the starting rotation, the Indians plan on bringing Ambriz into big league camp in spring training as a candidate for their big league bullpen.  While there is no risk involved with a Rule 5 selection, they are still long shot gambles.  The one thing going for Ambriz is the Indians are in a non-contending year, and if they like what they see out of him in the spring they can afford to keep him on the roster and be much more patient with him than a contending team would.  To stick in the organization, he has to remain in Cleveland for the entire 2010 season and cannot be sent to the minors per Rule 5 rules, unless the Indians complete a minor trade to acquire his full rights from the Diamondbacks.  He will open the 2010 season in the Cleveland bullpen, be sent back to the Diamondbacks or sent to Triple-A Columbus if a trade is completed.

Photo courtesy of Kraig McNutt

Hector Ambriz MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Hector Ambriz Baseball-Reference page

Hector Ambriz MinorLeagueSplits.com page

Hector Ambriz Pitching:

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