The highly touted Kyle Drabek will make his first start of 2011 in just under ten minutes. Living in Toronto, there’s been all sorts of talk about this kid and today we’ll get to see whether or not he’s up to the task of facing Cy Young candidate, Francisco Liriano. Fans across this great city are still riding the high of an opening day 13-to-3 thrashing of the Twins and that’ll place a lot of pressure on the youngster.
Morneau, Mauer and Thome provide a substantial amount of left-handed thump and you couldn’t draw up a better test for the kid. Even if things don’t go perfectly in Drabek’s 2011 opener, how he approaches the heart of the Twins line-up will say a lot about his future as a Blue Jay.
1. Can Kyle Drabek routinely hit 95mph with the heat?
2. Can Kyle Drabek work his solid and possibly improved change against lefties?
3. How often will Drabek rely on his Slider/Curve as his swing-and-miss pitch?
Drabek’s got a bunch of weapons at his disposal. He’s got a slider, essentially a cut fastball, a heater, a curveball and a change-up. How well he mixes these and more importantly, how well he can locate ‘em will determine his success in 2011.
Update: Drabek flashed everything and struck out the side but issued a walk on four straight to Joe Mauer. He’s really working the cutter and everything else looks good. He’s sinking his fastball more than I thought he would. Goodtimes. Let’s see how he fairs next time around the order.
