AAP: Zach Stewart

[Balta1701]

Zachary Stewart

Born September 28, 1986

From Wichita Falls, Texas

6'2", 204 LBS

 

Zach Stewart was originally drafted out of Texas Tech in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft, pick # 84.

 

He was then traded to the Blue Jays along with Edwin Encarnacion in the deal that brought Scott Rolen to the Reds.

 

Finally, he was traded along with Jason Frasor to the White Sox for Mark Teahen and Edwin Jackson.

 

He made his career debut on June 16, 2011 against the Baltimore Orioles, pitching 7 innings, giving up 7 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. After making 3 starts, Stewart was optioned back to Double-A New Hampshire on June 28, 2011.

 

Zach has bounced back and forth between starting and relieving, but basically entered 2010 as one of the Blue Jays top prospects.

Drafted in the third round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft by the Cincinnati Reds and subsequently traded with Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Roenicke to Toronto in exchange for Scott Rolen, righty Zach Stewart is now in his fourth season playing professional baseball. After beginning his career as a reliever, Stewart has found a groove as a starter since mid-2009, and has posted solid numbers in all six leagues he’s pitched in.

 

Beginning his second season starting for the New Hampshire FisherCats, Stewart’s pitching style has seen obvious changes since his days as a power reliever in the Reds organization. He’s lost a couple of tics of velocity on his fastball and his groundball and K/9 rates have seen a marked decline. He’s still getting it done, however, and he’s posted a 12-4 record as a starter since his Eastern League debut last April. He’s also honed his command, becoming a far more efficient pitcher. His comfort level on the mound seems to be better than ever and he’s nearly ready to take his post as a dependable third/fourth starter for the ‘Jays.

 

Strengths: (Slider, Fastball Command, Polish/Pitchability, 2-Seam Fastball)

 

Since Stewart moved to the rotation, he’s developed from a pure power arm into a sinker/slider pitcher. His four-seam fastball still sits in the low 90s, but he’s become more reliant on his above-average, tailing 2-seamer. He spots heaters to both sides of the plate and pounds the bottom of the strike zone with sinkers—generating plenty of groundouts. While he no longer has premium velocity, he adds good movement to his 89-92 mph 2-seamer and he’s done a good job of polishing his fastball command.

 

When he was drafted as a reliever, Stewart’s secondary pitches were nascent. Now though, his slider has developed from average into a legitimate plus pitch, and he’s added a solid changeup to his repertoire as well. Stewart’s slider is his best offering and it’s a strikeout/put-away pitch. He’ll hurl it as hard as 84-85 mph and use it’s sharp cut to generate weak groundouts and strikeouts against lefties. When he wants more break or he needs to change speeds, he will throw it in the 79-82 mph range with sharp horizontal break and tilt.

 

Because he doesn’t have great size and he’s no longer a true power-arm, Stewart has focused on improving his mechanics, control and approach—and he’s matured into a smart, polished pitcher as a result. He utilizes his above-average control, his ability to change speeds and his pitches’ good movement to pitch to contact and generate weak groundouts and double plays. In situations where he needs a strikeout, he’s still plenty capable of blowing batters away, and will bust a 93 mph four-seamer up-and-in or will drop a hard slider in the dirt.

Weaknesses: (Changeup, Shallow Repertoire, ‘Tweener Profile)

 

With only two legitimate MLB-caliber pitches, a smallish stature– standing 6’1” tall and weighing around 170 pounds—and neither plus velocity nor premium control, Stewart’s profile falls short of a top pitching prospect. While his slider now grades 60-65 on the 20-80 scale, particularly on days when he’s without his best stuff, Stewart’s three pitch repertoire may not be enough to survive a full season’s workload in an American League rotation. He can still run his heater up to 93-94 mph, but he now pitches more in the 88-91 mph range for the most part. His changeup, while fringe-average, probably isn’t enough to scare off big league guess hitters from sitting fastball in a hitters’ count and he may scrap the pitch (for the most part) one in the big leagues.

 

Because Stewart doesn’t have a pitch-to-contact arsenal, and because he doesn’t have an innings-eater build, he’s not a good choice as an innings-eater either. While he still is a smart enough pitcher with enough heat to succeed in the back of a rotation, the Blue Jays are probably best suited taking advantage of his fastball-slider combo in relief where it will play up significantly. A former college closer, Stewart is capable of maintaining 93-96 mph velocity on his fastball, and plus break on his slider in short relief outings.

Overall

 

Stewart has grown into a smart and capable starting pitcher with a big league future. While his profile falls short of top pitching prospect, he will still have plenty of success in the middle-back of the ‘Jays rotation. If the franchise does decide to return him to the bullpen, the extra tics of velocity added to his fastball could make him a premier power reliever.

 

As a start Stewart could have a nice career as a Jason Marquis-type pitcher—living off of a good slider and a decent fastball. As a reliever, Stewart could be a premium reliever in the mold of a late-20’s Dan Wheeler.

[Balta1701]

[Balta1701]

In a bit of a surprise, Zach Stewart turned up third on the list ahead of both the Jays top two catching prospects and a few of their other top, up the middle, prospects. If Drabek's secondary numbers weren't overly impressive, neither were Stewart's. He too spent all of 2010 with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats and turned in 26 starts and 136 innings.

 

The best result from Stewart's season might be that he finally spent some serious time at the same level in the same role for the first time in his pro career. In 2009, he spent time at three levels on four teams in both a starting role and out of the bullpen. He had never pitched more than 42 innings for any team previous to 2010. That at least gives a solid baseline to evaluate from.

 

That baseline included a less than impressive 4.18 FIP stemming from striking out seven batters per nine while walking 3.58 and yielding .86 homers per nine. All three of those numbers were on the wrong side of the Eastern League average. His pedestrian 4.93 tRA was much closer to the 5.00 league average than Drabek's was. His one saving grace, which is becoming almost a given with young Jays pitchers, was his 46.8 percent groundball rate.

 

Stewart's name has been kicked around as a potential number five starter for the Jays this season. That does not seem wise, he was hardly dominate at Double-A and at least some improvement should be seen before he moves up the ladder. He did pitch better after the All-Star break, upping his K/9 IN to 7.7, dropping his walks down to three per nine, and cutting his homers per nine to .64. Even buying the most recent 42 innings of work over the season as a whole wouldn't leave you screaming for promotion.

 

Stewart needs to build off his 2010 numbers almost across the board to force the Jays' hand. He's flashed the ability in small samples to strike out better than a batter an inning in the past and in those same small samples shown good control too. He might not need another full season at Double-A but he needs to step forward with real, solid progress.

Bleacherreport

[Balta1701]

Here's a ton on him from Jays Journal.

Zach has always had questions surrounding whether or not he should be a starter or a reliever. As far back as when he was a junior in college, his role was altered to being a reliever and he did very well from that point forward. As a reliever, Zach used his 2 plus offerings that he throws from a 3/4 arm slot – a 92-96 MPH fastball that has consistent sink to it and a flat out “buckle your knees” plus-plus slider – to go right after hitters and dare them to get good wood on the ball.

 

The change to the pen came simultaneously with his move from North Central Texas to Texas Tech (moved up to a Big 12 school), and the result was a change from throwing in the high 80s to 92-96 MPH, a huge jump in velocity as he worked more consistently at the top of his range. He also spent some time as the closer in Texas Tech. However, as his time in Texas Tech came to an end, injuries took their tole on his team and his role was once again altered to a starter. He failed miserably over his 2 starts, getting knocked around to the tune of 16 hits in only 9 innings of work.

 

Once he got to Cincinnati, he was used as a reliever for the 2008 season, but was moved once again to the starting role in 2009 despite cruising through LoA and HiA as a reliever in 2008 (1.08 ERA and 5 saves in 33 IP). There always seemed to be hope that his change up would come around and that he’d be a very effective starter as a result.

 

So, with yet another challenge in the works, Zach returns to starting and does extremely well this time around,cooking through HiA (2.13 ERA) and AA (1.46 ERA) with ease over 14 starts and 79.1 IP combined. In fact, during his time starting for the Carolina Mudcats that season, hitters only managed a .218 average against him (29 hits in 37 innings). But, for some reason the Reds decided to put Zach back into the pen and moved him up to AAA Louisville, where he only threw 12.1 innings of work (9 games) before being dealt to the Jays along with Edwin Encarnacion, and Josh Roenicke in return for Scott Rolen (the parting gift of JP Ricciardi).

 

The Jays, not wanting to throw him off-stride too badly, kept him in the pen and in AAA Las Vegas for the remainder of the 2009 season. He struggled some, allowing a .327 average against with a 3.38 ERA over 13 innings of work. So, here he was, wondering what would happen to him in 2010 in the midst of a regime change in Toronto, a new GM at the helm, an ace on his way out of Toronto (Halladay), and many questions about what his role may be within Toronto’s system which was then ranked as one of the 4 worst in MLB and with him being ranked by most experts as the best of the bunch (ranked #1 by Baseball America for the Jays prospects following that season).

[Balta1701]

Prospect of the day: Zach Stewart

Stewart was originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round in 2008, out of Texas Tech. He was packaged by the Reds in the summer 2009 Scott Rolen trade, and immediately became one of the best prospects in the Toronto system, although he was soon overshadowed to some extent by other trade acquisitions and draftees. Stewart threw 95-96 MPH in the bullpen but has settled into the 89-93 range as a starter, though his fastball has sinking action. His best secondary pitch is an effective variable-speed slider. His changeup has improved over the last year and rates as average overall, sometimes better than average, sometimes a bit worse. He's made great progress refining his mechanics and command since college, and has shown the ability to eat innings without ill-effect.

 

Stewart spent 2010 with Double-A New Hampshire in the Eastern League, going 8-3, 3.63 with a 106/54 K/BB in 136 innings. He returned to the same level this year and has gone 4-3, 4.39 in 12 starts with a 49/21 K/BB in 70 innings, 78 hits allowed. The strikeout rate is not especially good, although he's thrown strikes quite effectively and his FIP this year (3.67) is actually better than last year (4.18). His GO/AO ratio used to be very strong on the ground ball side, but has tilted more towards neutral as he's moved up the ladder, though scouts still report good sinking action with his fastball.

 

Right now, Stewart projects as a number three or four starter at the major league level. He doesn't have Kyle Drabek's long-term upside, but he has sharper command at this point and could be a better bet for short-term success if he throws strikes. I felt that Stewart was actually Drabek's equal as a prospect entering 2010 (I had Stewart ranked 17th and Drabek 18th, both with B+ ratings), although I moved Drabek ahead on the list in 2011. I still had Stewart as a Grade B+ entering this year, but had moved Drabek up a notch to an A-.

 

Key factors to watch in Stewart's first start: how much sink does he get on the fastball? How much does he use the changeup? Is he confident about challenging hitters?

[Balta1701]

Jeff Reese (63): In one of J.P. Ricciardi's final moves as General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Scott Rolen was sent to Cincinnati in return for Zach Stewart, Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Roenicke. Stewart, the primary piece of that return, was assigned to the Eastern League in order to continue the transition from college reliever into major league starting pitcher. Stewart, after rolling through three levels the season before, spent much of the first two months struggling to keep his ERA under 6.00. A mechanical adjustment was made at that point, and he finished the year strong. Stewart has long been the owner of two plus pitches: a sinking mid-90s fastball and a mid-80s slider. The development of the change-up will be the key to determining his future role as it's easy to see him dominating out of the bullpen with his current stuff. Toronto looks intent on developing him as a starter, and they have the pitching depth to let him spend much of the 2011 season in the PCL.

 

Michael Herrick (55): Stewart seems to get misrepresented or miscast by many people with regularity. It's usually a case of someone citing his age and level, combined with the idea he's a two pitch only pitcher. It's not only unfair, but also inaccurate. Stewart has four pitches, the plus FB and SL that Jeff mentioned, the improving changeup that Keith Law was impressed with in the Eastern League playoffs, and a fringy curve. Jeff mentioned the fact that Stewart was a college closer, but this is an area I think many people either forget or overlook. Coming into 2010, Stewart received all of 14 starts in the minors and a total of 138 innings as a pro, most coming in relief work. Of course his change is going to lag behind when he had so few opportunities to really work on it in games. This has to be taken into account with the age and level argument, it's not as if he's been a starter for the last five years between college and the minors. We're talking a year and a half in that role. I see #2 upside here, and I feel he's closer to Drabek than people give him credit for.

 

Steve Fiorindo (N/A): I think a lot of the misrepresentation comes from people that saw him pitch in the Reds organization, where he looked much more like a reliever. He has since toned down the delivery, and is now more under control and has better tempo. He now seems to have an effortless delivery, yet he still can generate plus velo. Like a lot of the pitchers on the bottom 25 of the list, the development of the change will be the deciding factor for Stewart. If it can be a weapon to combat lefties, he could be a number two type. If it doesn't develop, he could go back to the closer role he had in college.

Link

[Balta1701]

Writeup of his first big league start

Right-hander Zach Stewart, whom Baseball America rated as Toronto's No. 5 prospect to start the season, shone in his big-league debut Thursday afternoon against the visiting Baltimore Orioles to give some immediate hope for the back end of the starting rotation.

 

A four-pitch pitcher, the 24-year-old mostly threw a sinking fastball with a good movement that topped out at 93 miles per hour, and commanded a low-80s slider to both sides of the plate. Stewart also boasts a curveball and change-up.

 

"He threw the ball two or three times in spring training much like he did today," Blue Jays manager John Farrell told reporters after his team allowed two runs in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss. "The fact he was able to maintain that over seven innings was a solid outing for him. … He did his job."

 

Stewart didn't waste time getting to work after not arriving in Toronto until early Wednesday evening from AA New Hampshire, where he formed a 1-2 punch with Drabek a year ago.

 

He retired the first batter he faced, shortstop J.J. Hardy, who flied out on the fourth pitch of the game but redeemed himself with a solo home run to open the sixth inning to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.

 

"He didn't fear contact, he got ahead in the count and used his fastball and slider to disrupt some timing on some first pitches," said Farrell. "Quick innings early on. That certainly relaxed him and he settled into a very nice rhythm."

 

Stewart retired the first six batters on just 19 pitches, including two by strikeouts, before Mark Reynolds worked him for a walk but that was quickly erased when Ryan Adams grounded into the first of his two double plays.

Lively fastball

 

"Good life to his fastball, good sinker. He threw some good sliders in some fastball counts and he followed the glove of [catcher Jose] Molina fairly well today," said Farrell of Stewart, who went 4-3 with a 4.39 ERA this season with New Hampshire but was 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his three most-recent starts.

 

The Jays hurler fell behind 2-0 to the first batter in each of the first three innings but managed to pitch his way out of trouble on a few occasions.

 

After Vladimir Guerrero fought off a one-out slider on the inner half of the plate for a single to right field in the fourth inning, he advanced to second base on a balk by Stewart. The youngster settled down and got veterans Luke Scott and Derrek Lee to fly out to end the threat.

 

In the fifth, Stewart was the beneficiary of some outstanding defence after Blue Jays third baseman Jayson Nix failed to come up with a sharply hit, but routine, grounder by Reynolds. Right-fielder Jose Bautista picked up his seventh assist of the season when he caught Adams's fly ball and threw a strike to Adam Lind at first base to double-up Reynolds.

 

Guerrero touched Stewart for a run-scoring double in a two-run sixth inning, but the rookie pitcher induced Adams to ground into a double play in the seventh and caught Craig Tatum looking at a called third strike on a sinking fastball, his 86th and final pitch of the day.

 

"Even after he clips Reynolds in the start of the seventh to come back and get Adams on the ground ball double play after falling behind 2-0," Farrell said. "I thought that was probably the biggest point in the game where he did show composure and made some good pitches."

 

"That was a point where it was make or break for my outing," Stewart said."That was probably the high point."

 

Stewart exited with the game tied 2-2 after scattering seven hits and striking out four. He threw 55 strikes and threw first-pitch strikes to fewer than half of the 27 batters he faced.

 

More importantly, Stewart displayed an aggressive approach and looked every bit the prized asset Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos hoped he would be when he acquired Stewart, along with third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and relief pitcher Josh Roenicke, ahead of the July 31, 2009, non-waiver trade deadline.

 

"He was impressive," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I can see why they like him and why they traded for him. He's got good late life on his fastball. He gave them a good chance to win today."

[Balta1701]

Keith Law:

New Hampshire starter Zach Stewart was extremely impressive in his seven innings of work, striking out 10 (also against a weak lineup) with just one walk and ten groundouts against just one air out.

 

Stewart showed four pitches, pitching at 90-96 with sink and some tail with a tight, out-pitch slider at 83-87 that he threw for strikes, even back-dooring it to left-handed hitters for called strikes. His changeup was the biggest surprise, as another scout at the game told me he hadn't seen it this good before; it's mostly straight but has good separation from the fastball at 81-85 and his arm speed is excellent. He also used a fringy curveball with good depth, but he didn't command the pitch as well as he did the slider.

 

Stewart worked aggressively with everything and had good tempo. He stays over the rubber before driving forward with a long stride, although his arm action is a little long in the back and he pronates relatively late in the delivery. I know several scouts see Stewart as a sinker/slider pen guy, but I see four pitches, a good frame, and a pitcher who likes to attack hitters, and I see a potential No. 2 starter, maybe a No. 3 if the changeup isn't always where it was tonight.

[bighurt4life]

Sounds a hell of a lot better than anything we've got in the high minors.

[caulfield12]

His last start was a very good one on the 22nd of July.

 

Where/when will he start for the Knights?

[NorthSideSox72]

Zach Stewart makes the 25-man roster. At this point, he's probably not considered a prospect anymore, so we'll archive this thread shortly.

 

[Balta1701]

Zach Stewart makes the 25-man roster. At this point, he's probably not considered a prospect anymore, so we'll archive this thread shortly.

Close it but don't archive it. I'll call it 50/50 he's back in Charlotte before the end of the year.

[NorthSideSox72]

Close it but don't archive it. I'll call it 50/50 he's back in Charlotte before the end of the year.

OK, we can leave it here.