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Originally Posted by jmcclain19
With Gruler, what should have Reds fans jumping for joy is that he's still getting guys out w/o the blazing fastball.
When your throwing in the mid 80s, you can't just rear back and throw, you have to make good pitches.
Chris has done well w/o velocity this season. That little nugget will sit in his brain, making him more dangerous down the road should he ever get that fastball back up in the mid 90's.
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I'm glad he's back, but I see no reason to jump for joy. Gruler's a 20-year-old pitching lucky (he's allowing far too many baserunners for my tastes) in rookie ball and he isn't showing much in the way of stuff. It doesn't really matter what lessons he learns right now if the stuff doesn't return.
Probably the most realistic expectation is that he recovers to have Acevedo-class stuff, which makes him a marginal prospect. But this guy was a #3 overall pick. You want someone you select that high to profile as an ace. Until we see how much he gets back (and I suspect we're looking at 2006 before we get a true answer on that) Gruler's nothing more than a player for whom we've got our fingers crossed. All we can do is hope for the best, but unfortunately we can't assume it.
I'm more encouraged by Rafael Gonzalez at this moment.