The Fanning from Banning | David Molina (#93) | Prospecting (56.10)
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2023 12:04 pm
The Fanning from Banning
02/26/2056
Some bad news for the rest of the Frontier Division. Boise's David Molina is a criminally underrated starting pitcher prospect, and early 2056 rookie of the year candidate. The left-handed Molina, as the moniker suggests, is a native of Banning, California. The Spuds acquired a 17 year-old Molina in the 2051 draft, with the 500th overall pick.
Molina was nothing at all special at the time he was drafted, had a future value of 20 as a reliever, with potential ratings of 8/2/6. He had Tommy John at the ripe old age of 16, and was moved from the rotation to the bullpen in his junior year.
This is what his official scouting report has to say:
He should feature a changeup that will make all but the best hitters miss as well as curveball that will make all but the best hitters miss at his peak. Elite stuff is his game, and it's not hard to project him for big stuff. He has excellent command and control as well. Molina throws four quality pitches and has the potential to be an ace.
Molina may be the best pitcher in the Spuds rotation right now. Let's briefly look at the path of his development.
Coming out of high school, Molina had a cutter with a 7 potential, a curveball with 9 potential, and a changeup with a 1 potential, and a future value of 20. So, he was a long shot reliever prospect, and remained so for the better part of three seasons. In February of 2054, he appeared to start to figure out the changeup, and the potential of that third pitch shot up to an 8. Suddenly, he could be rated as a starter, though the scouting reports in-game continued to look at him as a potential reliever. By April, 2054, the cutter had an 8 potential, the curveball a 10, the changeup an 8. Molina had potential ratings of 10/4/7 as a reliever. In May of that year, he added a sinker with a 5 potential. From that point, there were incremental bumps to current and potential scores.
Minor league stats last season indicate dominance, but the Spuds did not promote him beyond Class AA, where he made 9 starts, striking out 69, walking 11, allowing 40 hits, and 3 home runs.
His elbow injury of several years ago has not hampered his development. His current Injury Proneness is rated as Normal. He has suffered no significant injuries since joining the Spuds organization.
Currently, Molina enters his age 22 season with a future value of 80 as a starter, with an actual rating of 60. His fastball tops out at 98 mph. His pitch arsenal appears to be fully developed with current and potential ratings of 11 for the curveball, 13 for the changeup, 8 for the sinker, and 10 for the cutter. Current and potential pitcher ratings are 17/11/9.
Stamina is a 4. Molina averaged around 6 innings per start in Class A and AA last year. There likely aren't any complete games in his BBA future, but the innings he will pitch will be choice.
High Loyalty and Work Ethic define his make up. Not much to worry about here.
makes it much easier to track and give credit for PPT