Turner was consistently up to 97 mph with his fastball in high school, touching 99, but is more 90-94 now. He works with a two-seamer that has some tailing life and generates a few more ground balls than his four-seamer does, but not enough to overcome the fact that he doesn't miss bats like he should.
He has a full starter's repertoire, with a power curveball at 77-82 that used to be sharper, a cutter at 84-86 that probably needs to be closer to his fastball in velocity, and a changeup with pretty good action at 86-87. As much as I understand the idea of making starting pitchers more efficient, I don't get the idea of taking a power pitcher like Turner and turning him into a finesse/ground ball guy; I think he's lost a little arm speed, but that could also be a function of trying to 'pitch' too much instead of just letting it go. He alone makes the deal worthwhile for the Marlins, as he's got enough stuff as is to end up a third or fourth starter but isn't far removed from a time when he looked like a possible star. It's quite possible he was just rushed to the majors and hasn't had time to make the necessary adjustments.
He has a full starter's repertoire, with a power curveball at 77-82 that used to be sharper, a cutter at 84-86 that probably needs to be closer to his fastball in velocity, and a changeup with pretty good action at 86-87. As much as I understand the idea of making starting pitchers more efficient, I don't get the idea of taking a power pitcher like Turner and turning him into a finesse/ground ball guy; I think he's lost a little arm speed, but that could also be a function of trying to 'pitch' too much instead of just letting it go. He alone makes the deal worthwhile for the Marlins, as he's got enough stuff as is to end up a third or fourth starter but isn't far removed from a time when he looked like a possible star. It's quite possible he was just rushed to the majors and hasn't had time to make the necessary adjustments.
Comment