SP Julián Durán
RATINGS (ACTUAL/POTENTIAL - STARTER)
OVER-ALL: 40/50
STUFF: 4/7
MOV: 7/8
CON: 4/5
In a draft that was barren of Starting Pitching in 2041, the Twin Cities Front Office jumped at the chance to select then reliever Julian Duran with the 6th Over-all pick in the 1st Round. Duran came in the draft with 2 solid pitches,a fastball and slider, coupled with outstanding movement (POT 9 and Stamina 8.
No stranger to trying to fabricate starting pitchers from relievers due to the wasteland of quality starters in the draft, GM Scott Piccoli saw the potential for a solid #2 or #3 in Duran at draft time.
Come the following off-season, the River Monster pitching coaches knew the routine and got on about the business of adding a Sinker to Duran's two other quality pitches and the coaches couldn't have been happier with Duran's ability to pick it up.
Surprisingly though, the BBA Scouts have not been impressed with Duran's potential to be future BBA starter and have consistently graded his BBA SP Potential around 50 or so. GM Scott Piccoli doesn't believe it... and Julian has shown massive improvement on his ability to get Lefty hitters out, while staying consistent versus Righties. Duran is currently holding AA lefty hitters to a paltry .421 OPS over his first two starts. With room still to improve, Duran already has a 10 MOV against Lefties and a quality 7 MOV versus righties.
"I'm not understanding what the Scouts are not seeing in Duran," commented GM PIccoli, "Honestly, Duran looks like he could be at least a 60 Rated Potential Starter in BBA right now... But as we know, that can change in a hurry. But I believe Twin Cities is due for some good luck from our Prospect Pitchers. We've got every hope that Duran will be in Starting Rotation in 2-3 seasons and if that isn't in the cards, he still has the potential to be a fantastic high inning Stopper in the mold of former TWC Reliever, Leorardo Di'Medici."
