AAP: Gavin Floyd

[Balta1701]

 

Full Name: Gavin Christopher Floyd

Born: 01/27/1983

Birthplace: Annapolis, MD

Height: 6'4" Weight: 220

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

MLB Debut: 09/03/2004

 

Gavin Floyd was originally the #4 pick in the 2001 MLB Amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phililes, following Joe Mauer, Mark Prior, and Dewon Brazelton, and 1 pick before Mark Teixeira in that round. He received a $4.2 million signing bonus, currently the largest in the history of the Phillies.

 

Floyd was ranked by Baseball America as the #56 prospect in the country in 2003 and the #9 prospect in the country in 2004. He was ranked as the top prospect in the Phillies organization in 2003 and the #2 prospect in 2004.

 

Floyd made his ML Debut in August of 2004, beating the Mets in 7 innings.

 

In 2005, Floyd made the Phillies out of Spring training, but struggled, giving up a 10.04 ERA in 26 innings before being demoted to AAA Scranton. At Scranton, Floyd continued to struggle, going 6-9 with a 6.16 ERA.

 

In 2006, Floyd again pitched well enough in Spring Training to earn a spot with the team, going 4-0 with a 3.16 ERA, but again struggled in the regular season, going 4-3 with a 7.29 ERA before being demoted to AAA again. His numbers at AAA improved, but were not where they were at AA 2 years beforehand, and he went 7-4 with a 4.23 ERA at AAA to finish the season.

 

On December 6th, 2006, he was traded by the Phillies to the White Sox along with Gio Gonzalez for Freddy Garcia.

 

Pitching Statistics

Year Team Lg Age Org Level W L ERA G GS CG SH GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BK H9 HR9 BB9 K9 WHIP

2002 Lakewood SAL 19 Phi A 11 10 2.77 27 27 3 0 0 0 166.0 119 59 51 13 64 140 14 0 6.45 0.70 3.47 7.59 1.10

2003 Clearwater FSL 20 Phi A+ 7 8 3.00 24 20 1 1 0 0 138.0 128 61 46 9 45 115 6 0 8.35 0.59 2.93 7.50 1.25

2004 Reading East 21 Phi AA 6 6 2.57 20 20 2 1 0 0 119.0 93 39 34 5 46 94 1 2 7.03 0.38 3.48 7.11 1.17

Scr/wb IL 21 Phi AAA 1 3 4.99 5 5 0 0 0 0 30.2 39 20 17 4 9 18 3 0 11.45 1.17 2.64 5.28 1.57

Philadelph MLB 21 Phi MLB log - sp 2 0 3.49 6 4 0 0 0 0 28.1 25 11 11 1 16 24 1 1 7.94 0.32 5.08 7.62 1.45

2005 Scr/wb IL 22 Phi AAA 6 9 6.16 24 23 0 0 0 0 137.1 155 103 94 11 66 97 10 0 10.16 0.72 4.33 6.36 1.61

Philadelph MLB 22 Phi MLB log - sp 1 2 10.04 7 4 0 0 0 0 26.0 30 31 29 5 16 17 2 0 10.38 1.73 5.54 5.88 1.77

2006 Scr/wb IL 23 Phi AAA 7 4 4.23 17 17 0 115.0 117 57 54 9 38 85 7 1 9.16 0.70 2.97 6.65 1.35

Philadelph MLB 23 Phi MLB 4 3 7.29 11 11 1 1 0 0 54.1 70 48 44 14 32 34 2 0 11.60 2.32 5.30 5.63 1.88

Major League Totals - 3 Season(s) 7 5 6.96 24 19 1 1 0 0 108.2 125 90 84 20 64 75 5 1 10.35 1.66 5.30 6.21 1.74

Minor League Totals - 5 Season(s) 38 40 3.77 117 112 0 706.0 651 339 296 51 268 549 41 3 8.30 0.65 3.42 7.00 1.30

Edited December 7, 2006 by Balta1701

[Jack Parkman]

I read somewhere that Floyd's fastball was once in the 93-95mph range, topping at 96mph but it had gone down to 91-93 mph topping at 94mph and that he has a 2-seam sinker around 90-92 mph. I wonder if maybe the sox brass saw some problems with his mechanics and they think Coop can work with him and get his fastball and sinker velocity back up. How good is his curve and change right now anyway?

[Balta1701]

I read somewhere that Floyd's fastball was once in the 93-95mph range, topping at 96mph but it had gone down to 91-93 mph topping at 94mph and that he has a 2-seam sinker around 90-92 mph. I wonder if maybe the sox brass saw some problems with his mechanics and they think Coop can work with him and get his fastball and sinker velocity back up. How good is his curve and change right now anyway?

Baseball America took a look at Floyd while he was pitching in the Arizona fall league, and they seem to confirm the numbers you're giving. His fastball was coming in low 90's, but his key pitch was always his curveball, which BA said was still rocking, big 12-6 breaking ball that can really murder righties.

 

BA link.

 

Arbuckle recently gave Floyd an ultimatum of sorts, saying everything was in his hands to be successful in a one-on-one meeting before Floyd reported to Arizona. Arbuckle continued that stance after the fourth overall pick in 2001 tossed three hitless innings against Scottsdale--this after he allowed seven runs on five hits, including two homers, in his last start against Phoenix.

 

"It's time for him now to take it to the next level," Arbuckle said. "We've done everything we can do as an organization to help him do it. I thought today's outing was solid--not spectacular, but solid.

 

"I saw some good curveballs. His fastball had consistent velocity, but there were more up in the zone than I would have liked to see. The changeup was good--so the stuff was pretty solid. Again, this isn't something I'm going to do cartwheels over, but it wasn't a negative either."

 

Floyd's curveball--a true 12-to-6 breaker from shoulders to shoetops--certainly was impressive, but more against righthanders than lefties on Monday. His fastball velocity ranged anywhere from 90-93 mph, with good arm speed and location on his change. Still, the 23-year-old remains somewhat of an enigma. The stuff is there, but questions about his mental makeup and confidence certainly persist. Overall this fall, Floyd is 0-1, 9.82 for the Peoria Saguaros in just seven innings.

 

"There are times he gets around a lot on his curveball," Arbuckle said. "It's kind of a consistency issue in all aspects with him. It starts with the mental side and transfers over to the physical stuff. It's his time now and he needs to make that next step."

It does sound like his fastball velocity has gone down a couple of mph in the last year or two for some reason, which is worrisome, but maybe something that can be overcome, and even if not, if he can get some consistency out of that big curveball, he should still be able to be a good pitcher. I hope.

[Balta1701]

Chicago Tribune today.

New pitchers Nick Masset and Andrew Sisco have received the early rave reviews, but Gavin Floyd has displayed recently that he's a quick learner.

 

Floyd, the leading candidate to earn the fifth spot in the White Sox rotation, heeded the advice of pitching coach of Don Cooper to accelerate his pace between pitches.

 

 

"To be honest, I told him I was a little concerned his tempo was slow, that he looked robotic," Cooper said. "I don't mean to be that negative. What he was doing on the sidelines and what he would be doing in a game would be too big of a jump, too big of a gap. So we had to quicken the tempo.

 

"Not only has he done that, but he has looked good doing it."

 

Cooper said he first noticed Floyd's lack of rhythm last year while watching one of his starts with the Phillies on television.

 

"I said this kid has no rhythm," Cooper said. "Right now that rhythm and tempo is quicker than the previous two times, and we have to stay on top of him. That will help him get in better grooves.

 

"It made me feel a whole lot better when I saw that."

[GoodAsGould]

How does Floyd even qualify for this, since all signs point to him being our 5th starter in the MAJORS

[BHAMBARONS]

3-3 Game:

 

Gavin threw the ball very well. His command faltered a little in his last inning, but overall a great performance.

[Balta1701]

Gavin Floyd was optionned to AAA Charlotte yesterday after failing to make the big league team.

 

He had a pretty poor spring, but there are some positive signs. In particular, several press reports had his fastball all the way up to 96 on some guns, which would be a hell of a lot faster than he was advertised as throwing.

 

He's still having issues with consistency in his delivery though, which is something that hopefully can be dealt with in AAA. This kid does still have some talent.

[Balta1701]

Well, I'll join in the burst of "What did your guy do this month" on Floyd.

 

2007 Season

Team League W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG

CHA INT 1 1 3.24 4 4 0 0 0 25.0 27 10 9 4 10 25 0.79 .293

 

WHIP is too darn high (1.48), but the ERA isn't bad at all. Couple of home runs, giving up a lot of hits. Does seem to be keeping the ball on the ground, and averaging almost a strikeout an inning.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Balta1701

[witesoxfan]

no, he's not keeping the ball on the ground yet, and that's the problem. 4 homers in 25 innings and a 0.79 GO/AO means he's allowing more flyballs than groundballs and that it's a problem. Just as a crude number, it's probably around 22 ground balls and 28 flyballs; translated very roughly over the course of the year, that's 130 ground balls to 170 flyballs. He's also on pace to give up like 36 homers in 150 innings, or 48 over 200. Basically, that GO/AO needs to come up before he can even be considered anything other than a AAA pitcher.

 

Overall though, it seems he and Broadway are the best looking prospects in Charlotte's rotation right now, which isn't really saying much because of how mediocre Broadway projects to the majors and how hit or miss Floyd still is.

[Jack Parkman]

Why hasn't Gavin pitched in 10 days? Is he hurt or something?

[Balta1701]

Gavin Floyd's last 6 games:

Date	OPP	W	L	ERA	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO

May 26	OTT	1	0	3.00	0	6.0	7	2	1	5

May 31	LOU	1	0	5.68	0	6.1	7	4	2	6

Jun 05	@LOU	0	0	1.13	0	8.0	7	1	0	6

Jun 10	IND	1	0	1.29	0	7.0	5	1	3	8

Jun 16	SWB	0	0	2.57	0	7.0	3	2	2	7

Jun 21	@NOR	1	0	1.04	0	8.2	6	1	2	8
 

Overall ERA in this stretch:  2.30.