Last night the Cincinnati Reds 2012 third round draft pick Dan Langfield returned to the mound for the first time since September 3, 2012 when he pitched for the Billings Mustangs. Langfield suffered a shoulder injury and missed all of the 2013 season. After beginning the year in extended spring training back in Arizona, continuing to rehab, he was promoted to Low-A to pitch out for the Dayton Dragons. He followed Nick Travieso who had just fired five shutout innings and entered the game in a 0-0 tie. The stage is now set.
Here is how things went in that first inning: 12 pitches, three strikeouts, utter domination. I tweeted this out following the inning:
How good was that inning by Dan Langfield? It was good enough that I wanted to call people and tell them about it.
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) May 6, 2014
I don’t recall the last time that I saw a pitcher and was that impressed right off of the bat. Excited and impressed doesn’t describe it. I watch a lot of minor league baseball. When you see certain things they stand out. The performance last night was that to the tenth power. Langfield returned to the game for a second inning. It wasn’t quite as good as the first inning, but was still very impressive. He finished the game with two perfect innings and four strikeouts.
So, how exactly did the stuff look last night? How about the mechanics? What does his future role look like? Let’s jump into it:
Scouting Report
Fastball | The pitch sat at 94 MPH and topped out at a confirmed 97 MPH (it turns out that the stadium gun in Great Lakes is indeed accurate). Oh, and it has sink to it.
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Curveball | This is a potential plus pitch. It was an above-average to plus pitch in the first inning of work, but two were a bit flat in his second inning of work, showing a bit of inconsistency with it before breaking off a few more that were just filthy. A true put away pitch with 12-6 breaking action.
Slider/Change Up | In the past both of these pitches existed for Langfield, but he didn’t seem to show these pitches in this outing. Past reports had him throwing a solid change up and an above-average slider.
Mechanics | He utilizes a high 3/4 arm angle, almost an over the top arm angle.
Control | He was spotting his fastball very well, only missing the target twice in two innings. He was able to locate it in the three quadrants of the zone that he threw to. He didn’t try to throw the fastball to the up and away area, but spotted it well up and in, low and in and low and away. The curveball location was hit and miss. He located several very well, under the hands and on the outside corner at the knees. But as noted above, he left a few of them that were flat up in the zone.
Future Role | Obviously he was used out of the bullpen last night, but he had been a starter in the past. Talking with a source, it sounds as if he will remain in the bullpen. If he does remain in the bullpen, based on his first outing, he has closer upside. 94-97 MPH that sinks with a very good breaking ball and control? Sounds like a closer to me.
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