MVN - Most Valuable Network

#3: Jacob McGee

Only the top three remain, as we continue to countdown the best that Tampa Bay has to offer. In today’s installment, we’ll profile a left-hander that has some of the best velocity in all of the minor leagues.

Jacob McGee is number three on the Rays Anatomy “Tampa Bay Top 10″.

The File

Name: Jacob McGee
Position: Pitcher
Age: 21 (August 6, 1986)
Height: 6-3
Weight: 190
Throws: Left
Drafted: Fifth Round, 2004 (135^th overall)

The Examination

The Season: McGee made 26 starts on the year, spending time in the Florida State and Southern Leagues. He put up some good numbers, facing older competition as he competed at those circuits at only 20 years of age for most of the season.

He threw 140 innings, allowing 49 earned runs and 10 home runs. He went a combined 8-6 in the two stops, and was rated the number three prospect in the Florida State League by Baseball America, behind only uber studs Jay Bruce and Cameron Maybin. The Sparks, Nevada native closed out A ball strong, throwing back-to-back seven inning shutouts to earn a promotion to Montgomery.

Blessed with amazing velocity for a southpaw, McGee struck out 175 batters on the season, averaging just over 11.25 punch outs per nine innings, third best in all the minor leagues. That average actually rose in Double A, as McGee got 30 whiffs in only 23 frames at that level.

Often compared with Wade Davis, he won his fair share of pitching awards this season as well. McGee was named to both the Mid-Season All-Star team and Postseason All-Star squad in the FSL, and was named pitcher of the week twice. Baseball America also tabbed him a High Class A All-Star.

Pros: There are two major differences between McGee and Davis, who ranked fourth on my prospect listings. Both are outstanding arms who compete at similar levels, and bring excellent tools to the table. There are several segments in the Rays fan community that actually like Davis more, but for me those two differences are too great to rank McGee lower. Baseball America agrees with me, but Baseball Prospectus does not. It is definitely a fun debate, and Tampa faithful should be excited that we have both in our corner.

The first difference is just luck, and has nothing to do with either’s ability to pitch. McGee is left-handed, and it is always that much more rare to find a southpaw that can be dominant. In a game flooded with righties that have great stuff, McGee stands out because of which arm he throws with. 

Secondly, the velocity that McGee brings to the table is off the charts. Clocked as high as 98 on occasion, he routinely brings mid to high 90s heat every time he heads out to the mound. That arm keep hitters at bay all season long, with his opponents hitting only .207 against him. Lefties had it worse, hitting a tick above .100 against McGee.

He has thrown more than a 133 innings two seasons in a row now, and seems to be progressing his arm nicely. His curveball and change can be plus pitches at times, but for now his fastball is so dominant he doesn’t have to use them to be successful. That will change soon and be the ultimate test on how good McGee can be.

Cons: The difference in McGee becoming the next Scott Kazmir or the next Billy Wagner (both are nice to have by the way) will be how his off-speed stuff improves as he climbs the ladder. As I stated earlier, his fastball has so much life and giddy up that he can get away with that offering alone at the lower levels. That won’t be the case in the majors, and McGee even got a taste of that in Double A, as his ERA rose to 4.24 in his short stay in Montgomery.

His control is another source of concern, as McGee walked 52 hitters on the year. He struggled even more as a Biscuit, walking over five per nine innings (small sample size). You can attribute that to the tail end of a long year, or perhaps Double A hitters forced him to have to mix in more off-speed pitches that he couldn’t control.

Whatever the case may be, he’ll have to throw strikes with his other two pitches to be a dominant starter. He can be a stud reliever right now, but if he can master his slider and changeup, than the sky’s not high enough for his ceiling. McGee’s work ethic has never been questioned, so you have to feel that if he doesn’t succeed as a starter it won’t be due to lack of effort.

The Prognosis

The Rays 2004 draft is turning into a banner class, sporting some of the games best prospects (Jeff Niemann, Reid Brignac, Wade Davis, Jacob McGee) and several other strong contributors to either the low minors (Ryan Royster, Fernando Perez) or the major league squad (Andy Sonnastine).

In my opinion, McGee can be the best of them all. Considering he went in the fifth round, there will be teams all over the league kicking themselves that they couldn’t find the crown jewel out of the deserts of Nevada. His arsenal is top of the line, and compares favorably with anyone else in the minors. You can make a case that his pure stuff rivals that of only a handful of well established major league lefties (Scott Kazmir, Billy Wagner).

It is interesting that those two names come up when comparing McGee’s stuff, because how well he controls his off-speed pitches will determine which of those two he becomes. Either would be a welcomed addition to the Rays major league club, but there is no doubt that a front-line starter is what everyone hopes he’ll end up.  

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Ryan Royster, The Tampa Bay Top 10, MILB.com, Southern League, Scott Kazmir, Fernando Perez, Montgomery Biscuits, Wade Davis, Florida State League, Jacob McGee, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, Andrew Friedman, Reid Brignac, raystalk, stats and theory, general sports, general baseball, Bullpen, rays prospects, Rays MiLB Sites, Jeff Niemann, Devil Rays Blogs, Baseball Blogs, Other Baseball, MVN Rays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.