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On Monday night, right-hander Alex Wimmers, the Minnesota Twins' first-round pick in the 2010 draft, had a season debut that could only be classified as disturbing. Pitching for High-A Fort Myers in the Florida State League, he faced six batters and walked them all, throwing 28 pitches in the process and almost delivering as many wild pitches (three) as he did strikes (four).

That's a troubling line for any pitcher, but it's worse for Wimmers because he has always had above-average command and control, a skill the Twins have always favored more than other big-league teams when it comes to amateur pitchers. What actually happened is still a mystery; Wimmers was placed on the disabled list Tuesday morning with the vaguely termed “flu-like symptoms,” so maybe he felt horrible and tried to gut it out, and maybe the Twins hope that he didn't contract the yips, or the thing, or the monster from Miracle teammate Shooter Hunt, a 2008 supplemental first-round pick who has walked 178 in 154 career innings, hit 27 batters, and uncorked 45 wild pitches. For now, Wimmers gets the benefit of the doubt, but there's surely some concern in the back of everyone's mind.

If I may put on my Jayson Stark hat for a moment, Wimmers' outing was very unique. Our statistical team found no similar game in major-league history by a starting pitcher, and in fact found no game in which a starter survived after walking the first four batters. The last person to do that was the legendary Randy Nosek in a late-season outing with the 1990 Detroit Tigers. Still, this got me wondering, can we actually learn from a highly-regarded pitching prospect's very first outing in his first full season?

For the few first-round pitchers that sign early enough to play in the year they are drafted, there is little actual development until the season is over. They get a physical, get a uniform, and go out there a throw like they always did while getting accustomed to the professional grind. So for the purposes of this study, I looked at the first start of the year for first-round college pitchers in their first full season of professional baseball, without a spring filled with classes and draft hijinks, and after a fall of instruction and an offseason of what is often much-needed rest.

From 2004-2010, 67 college pitchers were selected in the first round. Of those, nine were relievers, and two did not sign. Of the remaining 56, three began their first full year in the big leagues, and four (and that six percent figure is actually disturbing) missed their entire first year recovering from Tommy John surgery. The leaves us with 49 first-round starting pitching prospects out of four-year schools who made their full-season debut in the minors.

When you add up the 49 starts, you get a statistical line that looks like a full-season from an All-Star, and maybe even a Cy Young contender, or maybe just Jake Peavy in 2007.

Pitcher

ERA

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

49 Prospects

2.54

223.1

180

84

63

76

242

’07 Peavy

2.54

223.1

169

67

63

68

240

The high number of earned runs throws off the ERA a bit, as minor-league defense can be brutal, and there are also a few more walks than one would like to see, but keep in mind that our pitcher put together with 49 puzzle pieces had that one start where he walked the first six batters and then left the game. Overall this also looks like a good year from Tim Lincecum or Justin Verlander, both of whom had starts to qualify for the list, but were those outings indicative of the future? Lincecum's 2006 debut, when he whiffed eight over five shutout innings, was the seventh-best start among the 49 when measured by Game Score, a quick and dirty starting pitcher metric developed by Bill James, while Verlander's first showing in 2005, in which he pitched so-so for just three frames, rates as the 12th-worst.

As one can tell from the summarized numbers, in general, these pitching prospects did quite well in their full-season debut, with 13 of them (27 percent) going five or more innings without allowing an earned run. By Game Score, the best full-season debut was by Rockies righty Greg Reynolds, who was an overdraft at second overall in 2006 (the team passed on Evan Longoria) but began the 2007 season with seven shutout innings while allowing two hits and striking out seven for Double-A Tulsa. Being the only one of the 49 arms to go more than six innings helps his score, which rewards pitchers for going deep into games. The best single performance was arguably the Cardinals’ 2004 first-round pick, Chris Lambert, who went six seemingly perfect innings in the box score, but did hit one Florida State League batter.

Reynolds worked his way back to the big leagues after shoulder surgery, while Lambert threw all of 33 major-league innings, so while the top 10 starters include future stars like Lincecum, the bottom of the list includes current big-leaguers Daniel Bard, Mike Minor, and Brian Matusz. In the end, one start means nothing, be it Wimmers' flu-ridden nightmare, or Indians 2010 first-round pick Drew Pomeranz, whose whiffed nine of the 18 batters he faced in his pro debut last Friday (it’s now the fourth-best full-season debut of the 49). Developing a pitcher from the draft to the big leagues is a cross-country trip, and after just one start, the car isn't even out of the driveway yet.

A version of this story originally appeared on ESPN Insider Insider.

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delorean
4/13
Great stuff as always, Kevin. This is the kind of analysis I don't see anywhere else and why I'm happy to fork over money to be a BP subscriber.
AaronSF
4/13
Given his incredible 23 Ks and 5 BBs in 15 2/3 IP at the tail end of 2010, safe to say this is the first time I've had equal and opposite complete overreactions regarding the same player within the space of five games.

Good stuff, KG. Hope to see better news re: Wimmers in the Ten Pack after his next start.
zasxcdfv
4/13
I feel like the only statistically close game would be Dock Ellis' 1974 game against the Reds when he tried to hit them all, though I feel like Wimmers wasn't trying to do this.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197405010.shtml
jlebeck66
4/13
When I saw that line from Wimmers I immediately thought of Shooter Hunt too. Though same organization makes it pretty easy.

I was a Beloit season ticket holder in 2008 and was telling my buds to get very excited by Shooter getting promoted to town after his 0.47 era with 34 K's vs 6 BB's in 19 innings in rookie ball. I was giddy with anticipation, only to walk away with egg on my face.
SenatorsGuy
4/13
Going on the DL with "flu-like symptoms" is odd in itself. How many pro ballplayers ever go on the DL with the flu? Either he has some funky illness that would explain his opener, or the Twins need a reason to give him cover and are sending him off to see a shrink, his mom or a instuctional league guru.
tvnick5
4/13
Doesn't anybody remember Jason Neighborgall?
Now those are some numbers!!
timber
4/13
Per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune the wild pitches hit the backstop on the fly. That sounds like Rick Ankiel, which would not be good.

(Shooter Hunt had two wild pitches of his own in the game. Heck of a night.)
delatopia
4/14
Bill Bene, anyone?
delatopia
4/14
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bene--001wil
chris0501
4/15
"So in the end, one start means nothing..."

You're kidding right? Wimmers wasn't wild; he was WILD!

Four of his first eight pitches hit the netting behind home plate on a fly!

They're were earlier reports (evidently unknown to you) that said Wimmers might have the yips and this performance proved it. When I saw the headline of this article, I thought it would at least mention the obvious Rick Ankiel comparison. No mention of the yips or Ankiel.

It looks like you wrote this article by just looking at the box score. Try doing some background work next time.
chris0501
4/15
S/H/B "No mention of the yips history>>"
BrewersTT
4/15
Flu? Sounds more like walking pneumonia...