Will Inman Update

One of the transactions that has irked me that last couple years was the trade to the Padres in which Melvin gave up prospect Will Inman. Now, I still think the trade was the right move. The Brewers were still in the hunt and the bullpen was terrible. Getting Linebrink made sense. While he pitched well, I thought it was a lot to give up for a few months of late relief. I've been convinced that he'd turn into a pretty good starting pitcher. Chances of that seem less and less likely, as he seems to be regressing.

Scouting report after watching Will Inman pitch in April for San Antonio:

Fastball was better than I had been led to expect: his first 12 fastballs were, in order, 88-89-88-90-89-88-87-91-92-90-89-87. The fastball also had more movement than anticipated, it was not the straight pitch that I have read about in Baseball America. He mixed in a slider at 79-81 MPH, and a slow curveball at 73-74. He also threw one pitch at 81 MPH which had bizarre screwball-like action; perhaps that was his changeup. I was impressed with his secondary stuff, the only real mistake he made was hanging a slow curveball that Dan Carte hit for a home run. I liked Inman and am comfortable with the Grade B he got on the book. I see him as a Jeff Suppan-type inning eater.

Inman’s season in the Texas League resulted in very good K/IP and H/IP ratios, reflecting the quality of his stuff. His walk rate was too high, and scouts report that he had trouble with his fastball command as the season progressed, though he battled through it. His delivery is funky but deceptive. I’ve liked Inman a lot in the past and still think he is underrated by scouts, but the slippage in his control, as well as an excessive fly ball tendency that could result in too many homers, lower his rating to Grade B- Many scouts would say that is still too high. Perhaps I’m just stubborn about this one, but I still like the K/IP and H/IP.

So hey, maybe the move wasn't that bad after all!