D.J. Mitchell, Starting Pitcher
Ranked #24 Yankee Prospect
| Year | Age | Tm | Lev | W | L | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | WP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 22 | 2 Teams | A+-A | 12 | 7 | .632 | 2.63 | 25 | 24 | 140.1 | 124 | 57 | 41 | 2 | 44 | 125 | 15 | 1.197 | 8.0 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 8.0 | 2.84 |
| 2009 | 22 | Charleston | A | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1.95 | 6 | 6 | 37.0 | 31 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 42 | 5 | 1.000 | 7.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 10.2 | 7.00 |
| 2009 | 22 | Tampa | A+ | 8 | 6 | .571 | 2.87 | 19 | 18 | 103.1 | 93 | 41 | 33 | 1 | 38 | 83 | 10 | 1.268 | 8.1 | 0.1 | 3.3 | 7.2 | 2.18 |
| 2010 | 23 | 2 Teams | AA-AAA | 13 | 4 | .765 | 4.00 | 26 | 25 | 150.2 | 147 | 76 | 67 | 11 | 64 | 112 | 14 | 1.400 | 8.8 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 6.7 | 1.75 |
| 2010 | 23 | Trenton | AA | 11 | 4 | .733 | 4.06 | 23 | 22 | 133.0 | 128 | 69 | 60 | 11 | 57 | 96 | 12 | 1.391 | 8.7 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 6.5 | 1.68 |
| 2010 | 23 | Scranton/Wilkes-Barre | AAA | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.57 | 3 | 3 | 17.2 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 1.472 | 9.7 | 0.0 | 3.6 | 8.2 | 2.29 |
| 2 Seasons | 25 | 11 | .694 | 3.34 | 51 | 49 | 291.0 | 271 | 133 | 108 | 13 | 108 | 237 | 29 | 1.302 | 8.4 | 0.4 | 3.3 | 7.3 | 2.19 | |||
D.J. Mitchell is probably not going to be a starter on the New York Yankees. There are a few reasons to believe he might make a breakthrough, which I will go into later, but chances are we’re talking about Mitchell as a reliever, not a starter. That’s why I struggled to rate him as high as #24 overall. I think that he will end up being a pretty decent reliever for the Yankees, but he could very well wind up starting for the Pirates too.
Mitchell is a sinker/changeup pitcher. He throws a very strong 89-91 mph sinker and a great changeup. He doesn’t have a good enough breaking pitch to throw much in the majors. He also has a four-seamer that is slightly faster, but its not his primary pitch. He was converted in college to starting pitching just four years ago, and has moved remarkably fast since then. He has struggled against left-handed batters throughout the minor leagues. His control has been poor, both in terms of walks and wild pitches. He makes up for it with a very strong ground ball rate – 1.95 GO/AO in 2010, 2.89 in 2009.
I think that Mitchell will work out very well in the bullpen. He will be protected from left-handed batters. His four-seam fastball, currently a 91-92 mph pitch, could become a bit more effective. And more importantly, he won’t be punished as much for the lack of a breaking ball. His biggest problem has always been the lack of a put-away pitch. In the bullpen, this will be less of a problem. He’ll be called upon more than a few times to get a double play in a big spot, and should be able to pitch multiple innings. Mariano Rivera he will not be, but he could be pretty good, in the mold of Paul Quantrill.
The conversion should come soon. The Scranton rotation, depending on how a few moving parts turn, does not look like it will necessarily have room for Mitchell next season. Like they did with Ryan Pope, the Yankees should start his conversion and hope for the best. They have plenty of depth starting pitchers, and Mitchell doesn’t hold a lot of promise in that sense in the majors. And they could always convert him back at a moments notice, if necessary.
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10 Responses to Looking at D.J. Mitchell
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TIQ IQ
Decent stuff, mediocre control. OK results at 23 in AA. Yawn.
They can’t all be Montero :)
At this ranking, I’d prefer a prospect who has at least not proven that they are a mediocre minor leaguer. Let us dream.
So you want 25 guaranteed starters in the top 25? Never going to happen but great dream.
The guy can get right-handed batters out and he’s at Triple-A. If you look at the guys that Mitchell beat out, they’re all either long term projects (Encinas, Rutckyj, Richardson, sort of Bleich) or mildly useful bench/bullpeners in the upper minors (Curtis, Pendleton, Nunez).
There are so, so many better pitching prospects with greater upside in the organization than this dude.He appears to be of the dime a dozen type.
They may be better than Mitchell but I think Nova and Noesi fall into the “dime a dozen” category when you consider sinker ballers who don’t miss enough bats to be above 4 in a rotation, being a prospect isn’t about being a star you get ranked on your ability to get to the majors and produce before anything else. Sure guys like Montero get shot up boards because of his star potential but most prospects are just guys you hope produce for you on a winning team in some way.
You have to think of DJ as a bullpen version of Hector Noesi or a broke man’s version of Alfredo Aceves, he won’t overpower anyone and he will never make you call someone and tell them what he was throwing that night but he has a chance to be a cog in the system.
Strongly disagree on Noesi and Nova. Nova throws some serious heat – he doesn’t do a lot else, but the heat alone makes him stand out in a crowd. I’ve got my doubts about him, but its difficult to deny that he’s got the stuff to be a pretty good pitcher.
Noesi is a whole is greater than the sum of its parts guy. Lots of those guys are very successful in the majors. Look at James Shields, for instance.
I wasn’t dissrespecting Nova or Noesi in anyway you understand that right? You seem to have missed my point completely, when I say they also fit into the dime a dozen category I am talking about guys like Shields they will never be anything spectacular and will certainly never be an ace but they can contribute and in a big way to winning teams.
My point was not to diss Noesi or Nova but to defend DJ Mitchell when he is called dime a dozen. Truthfully the league is made up of a handful of stars some very good players and a bunch of contributors who may go to an all star game once in a while but aren’t perrinial invitees.
To call someone dime a dozen in a derogatory way to me makes no sense since teams are built with such players, that is the point I was making.
I personally like Noesi and Nova and I think they can provide some solid innings in the back of the rotation just so long as both aren’t starting at once.
Ah, I got you. My apologies.
I still think that Noesi is underrated in this sense though.