Bill Mitchell's Minor League Ramblings

Minor League Ramblings For the week of :
August 26, 2002

Minor League Ramblings is produced by Bill Mitchell for Minor League Watch.

English makes an impressive professional debut with Giants
August 31, 2002

Jesse English

A number of Arizona League pitchers were taken higher than Jesse English in the 2002 free agent draft.

But, arguably, the 17-year-old lefthander from Vista, California, pitched as impressively as any other hurler in the rookie level league.

English finished the regular season with a 4-1 record, 2.68 ERA, and a sparkling 68-18 strikeout to walk ratio in 47 innings. He then threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Cubs in the league championship game.

This performance came after the 6-3, 220 pound English pitched for one of the top high school programs in the country. He finished at 13-1 with a 1.22 ERA for Rancho Buena Vista High School in 2002.

Not surprisingly, the Giants are thrilled with the progress of their sixth round choice. "He really has a great arm and he's a strong kid," remarked English's pitching coach, former major league reliever Maximino Leon. "He has a good future in the organization."

Of course, English has a long way to go and many lessons to be learned before he'll be even close to ready to pitch at the major league level, but Leon believes that the strong, stocky kid is off to a great start.

Maximino Leon

"He has to work on his mechanics and learn all facets of the game," continued Leon. "He has to learn how to work with the hitter behind in the count, ahead in the count, and get better command of all pitches."

English agreed with Leon that his most important area for improvement is in perfecting his pitching mechanics. He said, "I need to work on staying back and keeping my arm on top on every pitch. Usually what I hear about from the team is my arm angle's down, so I need to stay up on all my pitches."

English was able to get by in high school by primarily throwing his low-90s fastball past hitters. Coming into the pro game, he was smart enough to know that relying on one pitch wouldn't be enough in the minor leagues.

"I figured it would be a lot harder than high school," stated English. "You have to go after every batter. If you miss your pitch, they'll definitely hit the ball hard. You've got to focus on every pitch and make sure you hit your spots every time."

Jesse English

When asked about his changeup that appeared devastating to Arizona League hitters, English answered, "I just started throwing my changeup for strikes. I had it in high school, but I didn't need it."

Leon agreed, saying, "He has a good changeup, above average, and a good curve ball." What most impressed Leon about English's performance this year is that he consistently threw strikes.

With a solid head start on his pro career, English is expected to move quickly through the Giants organization. Leon doesn't think it take long at all, stating confidently, "Three years ... he will be pitching in the big leagues."

That might be an optimistic estimate, as English is still a month away from his 18th birthday. But with his size, easy arm action and advanced maturity level, it's certainly not a stretch to think that the big southpaw could be on the mound at PacBell Park before he turns 21.

--- Bill Mitchell