Minor League Player Profile: RHP - Jeremy Jeffress

The Minor League Player Profile feature is something I will try to do every once in a while to help acquaint Brewers fans with some of the players in the Brewers' farm system. This is to bring some depth into the conversation when talking about trading prospects, and so people know a little about the players that the Brewers will be looking to call up in the upcoming seasons.

We'll start with the first-round pick from 2006, right-hander Jeremy Jeffress:

Jeremy, 20, is routinely recognized as the #3 prospect in the Brewers' organization, just behind Manny Parra and Matt LaPorta. While those players are by no means mundane, Jeffress is the most excited prospect the Brewers have. He has an effortless delivery that takes the strain off his elbow and shoulder, while still hitting the mid-to-high 90s on the gun with ease. I've also heard that Jeffress hit 102 mph last year a few times. Pair that type of velocity with the downward movement of his fastball, Jeremy is able to be a strikeout pitcher that induces many ground balls. Prospects like Jeremy move up the system quickly.

After struggling to a bloated 5.82 ERA and a forgettable 25/37 BB/K ratio in 13 games in his rookie season at the Rookie level Brevard County, Jeremy reminded the organization why he was their first-round pick in 2006. He overpowered hitters in Class-A West Virginia with 95 strikeouts in 18 games and 86.1 innings pitched. Matching that 9+ strikeouts per 9-innings with a 3.13 ERA, Jeffress impressed last season.

While Jeremy is a bona fide flamethrower who can hit triple digits with ease, he has had some consistency issues with his fastball. The control is a little suspect (it did get better last year), but he occasionally has issues maintaining the velocity on his fastball. It will occasionally dip into the high-80s without notice. This can be seen, however, as a nice way to keep the batters off balance, as they will never know what type of velocity the heater will have.

The other knock on Jeremy Jeffress is the inconsistency of his secondary pitches. He will need to develop two secondary pitches to effectively compliment his fastball, and one will need to be a plus pitch to be successful at the major league level. There is no question that Jeffress can throw the secondary pitches. He simply has issues with the control. His change up has great arm motion and deception, but he often leaves it up in the zone. The deception alone may be enough to fool minor league hitters, but those hanging change-ups will be hit out of the park in the majors. He also has a nasty slider, which hits in the high-70s to low-80s on the gun with very effective and late-breaking tilt. Again, Jeremy cannot seem to locate the pitch very well.

Jeremy Jeffress was, however, suspended for 50 games for violating baseball's substance abuse policy. He was not involved in the steroid or HGH scandal, but he did test positive twice for marijuana. Jeremy has cooperated fully with the Brewers' organization and successfully completed the substance abuse treatment program the Brewers enrolled him though. It will be interesting to see if this helps him mature, not as a pitcher, but as a person. He has a bright future ahead of him, and he needs to understand that drugs will only hinder his growth. On the bright side, however, the 50-game suspension will keep his innings down this year, and it will help protect his young arm.

With that said, he improved drastically last year, and he will have a lot of time to dedicate to improving his secondary pitches and his control before stepping onto the mound for the first time in '08. Jeremy will probably be in Double-A by the end of the year, as he is still a couple years away from the majors. More on Jeremy to come this year, I'm sure.