2010 Indians Top 50 Prospects: #41 Steven Wright

Steven Wright - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 08/30/1984 - Height: 6'1" - Weight: 200 - Bats: Right - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Level	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2007	22	Lake County	A	4	7	4.61	14	14	66.1	61	34	9	15	75	.243	2.0	10.21	1.15
2007	22	Kinston	A+	3	2	7.13	13	13	48.0	64	38	3	22	39	.320	4.1	7.31	1.79
2008	23	Kinston	A+	2	4	2.99	14	14	72.1	59	24	6	17	61	.225	2.1	7.61	1.05
2008	23	Akron	AA	4	3	4.3	14	14	75.1	80	36	14	17	58	.268	2.0	6.95	1.29
2009	24	Columbus	AAA	0	0	4.76	2	1	5.2	5	3	0	0	4	.217	0.0	6.92	0.96
2009	24	Akron	AA	10	0	2.32	36	5	81.1	72	21	1	20	64	.235	2.2	7.10	1.13
		Totals		23	16	4.02	93	61	349.0	341	156	33	91	301	.254	2.3	7.76	1.24

History: Wright was selected by the Indians in the 2nd round of the 2006 Draft out of the University of Hawaii. He was the first of four second round picks for the Indians in the 2006 Draft, but he did not pitch for the Indians in 2006 since he signed a 2007 contract. At Hawaii in 2006, he went 11-2 with a 2.30 ERA and in 109.2 innings only allowed 19 walks while striking out 123. He also was tabbed the WAC Pitcher of the Year in 2006, and also received the Russ Ford Award as the Cape Cod Baseball League's best relief pitcher in 2005.

Strengths & Opportunities: Wright is an impressive, consistent strike thrower who commands his fastball well and knows how to pitch.  He throws a mix of four pitches led by a fastball that consistently clocks in at 90-92 MPH which has topped out as high as 95 MPH when he was at Hawaii, and complements it with a slider, curveball, and changeup.  His plus slider is his best pitch, and is a pitch he has a ton of confidence throwing and coming out of college was considered the best slider in the entire 2006 Draft.  He is starting to gain a lot more confidence in his curveball and starting to believe he can throw it in any count.   He also throws a changeup, but it is a work in progress and more a show pitch.

Wright's move to the bullpen last year was planned almost from the day the Indians drafted him as they felt his stuff would play up in the role.  One of the things that helped shape that thought was his success as a reliever in the Cape Cod League back in 2005.  His very good fastball-slider combination combined with great makeup and an ability to throw strikes helped shape that perception into reality when after making three starts for Double-A Akron last year the Indians made the long overdue change and slid him into the bullpen at Akron.  Even though the change came after the start of the season, he had no problems adjusting to his new role.  While his velocity has not yet played up, his ability to throw four pitches gives him a different game plan every time out to attack hitters in different ways.  The move to the bullpen mostly helped the slider because he can rely on it more and go all out with it for two to three innings and not have to worry about facing a lineup a second time.  He has not backed off his four pitch mix as he primarily uses his fastball-slider combination, but he keeps his curveball in his back pocket to give hitters a different look and his changeup a change of speed and something down in the zone.  At the end of the season, he proved to be the best in the Indians entire minor league system at stranding inherited runners, a quality which is very important for relievers.

Going into last season the Indians had worked with Wright's delivery and made some minor adjustments with his mental approach to get him to focus less on his mechanics and more on just attacking hitters and getting his fastball located in the zone.  This was the final piece needed for his transition to the bullpen.  Now that he is in the bullpen, he is working more on actually "pitching", reading hitters, and making quicker adjustments.  He has had some struggles with a lack of fastball command at times where he leaves it up in the zone, which can spell doom for any pitcher, and his slider can flatten out.  Knowing this, he needs to continue to refine his strike throwing ability and keeping it down in the zone to ensure he can maintain his ability to throw consistent strikes once he gets to the big leagues.

Outlook: Wright is now major league bullpen depth for the Indians as soon as this year.  They believe he will pitch in the big leagues, it is just a question of when.  With so many bullpen options to sift through this coming season, he likely will not get a big league opportunity early in the year, but as things start to shake out at the big league level he could see time in Cleveland sometime in August or later.  He will open the 2010 season in the Triple-A Columbus bullpen.

Photo courtesy of Ken Carr

Steven Wright MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

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