AAP: Dylan Axelrod

[Quin]

 

Dylan Axelrod

 

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right, Throws: Right

Height: 6' 0", Weight: 195 lb.

 

Born: July 30, 1985 in Santa Barbara, CA (Age 26)

High School: Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)

School: University of California, Irvine (Irvine, CA)

Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft.

Signed June 26, 2007.

2012 Contract Status: Pre-Arb Eligible

Service Time (01/2012): 0.024

 

OVERVIEW

 

Dylan Axelrod was originally a Padres prospect, spending part of his first three years of professional baseball in their system. Used exclusively as a reliever, he put up bloated ERAs over 5 in A+ ball. In 2009 he was cut by the Padres and signed on with Chicago's independent Windy City Thunderbolts, where his 2.21 ERA attracted the attention of the White Sox. He was signed to A Kannapolis. Transitioning to a starter, Axelrod put up numerous sub-3 ERAs in the Sox System, with his highlights being a 1.99 ERA at A+ Winston-Salem and 2.27 at AAA Charlotte last year. He made his major league debut against the Minnesota Twins last year in relief and his first start was Sept. 14th against the Detroit Tigers, where Axelrod struck out eight Detroit batters in six innings while giving up two runs in the no decision. In 18 MLB innings last year, his ERA was 2.89.

 

HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE

 

Axelrod had a 13-1 record his senior year at Santa Barbara High School, where he was named team MVP. He went undrafted after high school and pitched at Santa Barbara City College where he recorded 117 strikeouts as a starter. He then transferred to UC Irvine and was used a reliever, where in his two ears he went 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA.

 

MINORS

 

Axelrod bounced around before being picked up by the Sox. After being drafted in the 30th round (927th overall) by the Padres, he put up an ERA of 5.29 at A+ Lake Elsinore in 2008. The next year, he had a 4.50 ERA before being cut and getting picked up by the independent Windy City Thunderbolts. After being used as a starter by the White Sox, he became a Southern League All-Star in 2011, going 3-2 with a 3.34 ERA. Last year at AAA Charlotte he was 6-1 with an ERA of 2.27 in 15 starts before being promoted to the big league roster.

 

MAJORS

 

Axelrod was called up to the Major League roster on Sept. 5, 2011 when Tony Pena went on the DL. Pitching against Minnesota, Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto, Axelrod went 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 18.2 innings.

 

STUFF

 

Axelrod throws a fastball 51% of the time, with the FB topping out at 89.4 MPH. He throws an 82.2 MPH slider as his best pitch, 41% of the time. From Seedlings to Stars:

 

The truly interesting thing about Axelrod’s first major league start, in which he struck out eight batters in six strong innings against a solid Detroit lineup, was that none of those three things happened. His velocity was actually higher than it was in the relief outing, as he worked at 89-91 and touched 92, averaging exactly 90.0 mph and holding that velocity through the end of his outing. He continued to throw the same percentage of sliders–43 of 93 pitches–and only tossed three changeups.

If Axelrod keeps throwing his slider 46% of the time, he’ll be the only starting pitcher anywhere close to that sort of rate; no pitcher with three or more starts in 2011 has used a slider over 40% of the time.

 

It’s an absolutely filthy pitch, coming in at 81-84 mph with hard, late, two-plane break. In the 55 he’s thrown thus far in the big leagues, 41 have gone for strikes, and 11 of 30 swings on the pitch have resulted in whiffs. He tends to work down and away with the pitch to both lefties and righties, but isn’t afraid to work both sides of the plate with the pitch.

 

Axelrod’s fastball is interesting. It’s not an impressive pitch in terms of velocity, and while it has solid movement, it’s not going to induce a bunch of swings and misses. Then again, Axelrod is one of the very few starting pitchers in the majors who basically uses his fastball as an offspeed pitch, set up by his breaking ball. Essentially, his aim with the heater is to either a) get the batter to chase a bad pitch out of the zone and roll over or b) think the ball is going to break when it isn’t, and thus watch strike three.

 

In contrast with the slider’s high strike rate and high swing rate, then, Axelrod throws a lot of balls with the fastball (56.7% strikes), but nearly half of those are looking (31.7% swing rate). Yes, he only has induced one whiff in 60 fastballs, but his goal with the pitch is to either get weak contact on a pitcher’s pitch or simply move the count more in his favor.

 

Read more: http://seedlingstostars.com/2011/09/16/the...-dylan-axelrod/

 

[NorthSideSox72]

No longer qualified, has reached rookie status. Closing, moving to archives.