Marty Popham 2011 Scouting Report

Here is the scouting report written around this time last year in advance of the 2011 season for right-handed pitcher Marty Popham. The Indians lost him today to the Minnesota Twins in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft. This report has only been available in my 2011 Prospect Book and not available on-line until now. (Note: the video included below is new and would have been for his 2012 scouting report.)

Marty Popham – Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 08/04/1987 – Height: 6’6” – Weight: 235 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

(Photo: Lianna Holub)

History: Popham was selected by the Indians in the 20th round of the 2008 Draft out of Union College (KY). His 17 wins in 2008 led the NAIA. In his final start of the season last year on September 5th he and two other pitchers - Chris Jones and Cory Burns - combined on a ten inning no-hitter. He was perfect through six innings, but lost the bid for a perfect game with a leadoff walk in the seventh inning. The no-hitter was the seventh in Kinston history, and the first one since lefty Keith Ramsey threw a perfect game on almost the same date six years earlier in September of 2004. Going back to 1945 it was just the third extra innings no-hitter in league history, and the first since Durham’s Chris Czarnik pitched an amazing 14 no-hit innings back on May 24, 1990.

Strengths: Popham is a big, physical pitcher with excellent size and a nice loose arm. His fastball sits around 89-92 MPH and was up to 95 MPH last season. He does a good job of making pitches and locates his fastball well down in the zone. He also throws two solid-average secondary pitches in a slider and changeup. The changeup is the more consistent and reliable secondary offering for him as he continues to show improvement with it and does a good job of keeping hitters off balance with it. When he turned pro in 2008 he did not have a good changeup coming out of college, but with the help of Indians coaches he has been able to improve the pitch by better repeating the same motion and arm speed as his fastball, which has made it much more effective for him. The slider is inconsistent and is still a work in progress.

Opportunities: The biggest obstacle for Popham has been his inconsistent breaking ball, which the lack of a third pitch will eventually push him to a relief role. He has had trouble finding a consistent arm slot with his slider and he tends to wrap it, so his primary focus this year will be to get his arm slot issues straightened out, tighten it up, and add some velocity to it so it gets the necessary bite and good, late movement to make it an effective offering. If his slider ever comes around it will only help improve his nice fastball-changeup combination. He also needs to work on more consistently commanding the ball down in the zone, learning how to better read hitters, mix his pitches and use them all in different counts, and more consistently throw first pitch strikes.

Outlook: Popham is a lot like fellow Tribe farmhand right-handed pitcher Frank Herrmann, who is a guy who was unheralded coming out of college but worked his way through the system and just continued to get better every year. Both are big, strong pitchers with heavy fastballs that generally sit in the low 90s but have the ability to reach back for more if needed. Popham's inability to develop a third pitch will likely push him to a bullpen role at some point this coming season, maybe even at the start of the year. He has a chance to open the 2011 season at Double-A Akron in a bullpen or piggyback starting role, but due to depth in the upper levels he likely will open the year with a return to High-A Kinston.



Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

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