Cubs Prospects Profile: Jen-Ho Tseng
By Tommy Cook, Thursday at 7:40 am
Cubs Prospects Profile
Cubs Insider original scouting report/video
Name: Jen-Ho Tseng
Age: 19
Acquired: 2013 IFA ($1.625 mil bonus)
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 210 lb
2013 Stats: 62 1/3 IP, 2.74 ERA, 61 K, 8 BB, 55 H, 1.01 WHIP (Class A Kane
County)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6GqmEwHTw (影片)
The Delivery
Out of the windup, Tseng takes a short side step and holds the position for at
least two seconds before transitioning into the rest of his delivery. It's an
interesting motion that is a big reason that he has what I'd describe as a
distinctive delivery, even if it has little affect on the rest of his delivery.
Out of the side-step pause Tseng kicks his knee up to the letters of his jersey
while turning his lead shoulder a bit inward, all the while staying
well-balanced on his back leg. From here, Tseng's body starts to lean towards
home as he collapses his back knee and drops his ass toward the ground. It's a
classic-drop and drive motion, which gives me pause, but he repeats his fairly
well right now. Plus, he uses it to explode towards home, achieving great
momentum and a very deep release point.
Upon footstrike Tseng is in a powerful yet balanced position, with his landing
knee bent significantly and his chest centered directly over that knee. Tseng
is a big kid with powerful legs, making this a very stable position to release
the ball from. After release, Tseng is still balanced, falling off towards
first ever so slightly.
It's a solid delivery, and Tseng's build gives me hope that he'll be able to
overcome the issues with the drop and drive delivery. He's a tall kid (probably
around 6'3" nowadays), so the lowered release point doesn't affect his fastball
plane like it would a shorter pitcher. Tseng is also a solidly built kid (210
pounds already) and has room to fill out. With that extra muscle in his legs he
should be able to repeat his drop and drive mechanics consistently.
Tseng already finds his release point consistently, so the extra muscle could
allow him to ramp up his momentum without sacrificing his balance at release.
The Fastball
Tseng's fastball sat 91-92 and touched 95 the first time I saw him, and sat 88-
91 (touched 93 once) in my second viewing. Tseng's only 19, so the inconsistent
velocity from start-to-start doesn't worry me much. The fact that he was able
to ramp it up to 95 in April was extremely impressive, and speaks to the
ultimate potential that resides in Tseng's arm. As Tseng gets stronger, I could
see him sitting in the 92-93 range and touching higher frequently.
There's more to Tseng's fastball than it's raw velocity, though. The first of
which is that he likes to add and subtract from it as he sees fit (h/t
Mauricio Rubio). This is something he showed in July - he sat 88-90 in the 6th
inning before finding himself in a two-on-one-out situation before immediately
finding 93 in his back pocket to induce a double play. So in any given game he
may be holding extra strength in the tank in an effort to pitch into the late
innings.
Furthermore, that deep release point I mentioned? It helps the pitch "jump" on
the batter. The later release point is a foot or so closer to home, making a
90mph fastball appear a tick or two faster.
Beyond that, Tseng's fastball also has a good amount of run to it. It's nothing
extreme, but it's enough wiggle and fade to miss barrels.And, if you've watched
the video above, you'll notice that he does indeed miss a lot of bats with his
fastball. That's not easy to do in the low-90s, and is a sign that his delivery
has some deception to it.
I think the movement and bat-missing ability makes Tseng's fastball a plus
potential pitch, dependent largely on where his velocity ends up.
The Curveball
Folks, I really wish I had better video of Tseng's curveball for you because
when it is on, it is pretty. When he snaps a good one off, it has sharp bite
and good 11-5 break (go to about 4:00 in the video to see one like this). It's
easily flashing plus in moments like this.
The problem is that he doesn't have a great feel for repeatedly executing the
pitch. It's often hung up in the zone, or never breaks at all. Tseng is often
able to find his fastball release point, so I would hope he'll eventually be
able to do the same with his curve. If he does, it's a plus pitch for me, but
he's got a long way to go there.
The Changeup
Jen-Ho Tseng has a very good feel for a changeup for a 19 year old. In my first
viewing of him, Tseng was having quite a bit of trouble with his breaking ball.
So, after 3 innings, he started moving to exclusively fastball-changeup
sequences against hitters. Midwest League hitters had no chance against that
changeup. Tseng's arm speed on his changeup is great, and it comes in with good
fading action.
It's not a Bugs Bunny changeup, nor one with crazy movement, but it has the
combined velocity differential and the movement to be a bat-misser (Lord knows
MWL hitters can't hit it). If Tseng's able to command it consistently, I think
it has the potential to be a plus pitch at the major league level.
The Command and Control
As noted in the delivery section, Tseng's rock solid lower half allows him to
find a consistent release point. As a result, Tseng has been able to fill the
zone up with fastballs (just 8 walks in 62 2/3 innings pitched). Tseng already
shows some ability to work both sides of the plate with his fastball, and given
the balance in his delivery I only expect this feel for pitching to get better.
That's a scary proposition for hitters, as Tseng's raw stuff should evolve into
enough to get outs with simply average command. Instead, given the strength I
expect him to add and his already repeatable delivery, I think Tseng will
develop easily-plus command with a chance for a bit more. If he does develop
that command, he'll be able to work advanced sequences against hitters and
really attack hitters' weaknesses.
Final Thoughts
If the string of "potentially plus' evaluations of everything in his game
hasn't clued you in already, I really like Jen-Ho Tseng. He's got projectability
left in his frame, he has a repeatable delivery, and he has three pitches that
flash plus at times. That's pretty fun to dream on.
Tseng is also really fun to watch. He has a quiet cockiness on the mound,
sarcastically reacting to bad calls in a subtle way, a flourish of the arm
after he releases the ball, and a little hop-skip after striking someone out.
That, plus his finding 3 extra mph in a big situation, makes me believe he has
the mentality needed to pitch at a high level. It's not quite #rig or #diesel,
but it's something close.
If he hits his ceiling, I think Tseng is a very good #3 pitcher, one who will
strikeout a surprising number of hitters with a 3-pitch mix that he commands
very well. More realistically (if he stays healthy), he's a #4 type who
occasionally flashes brilliance.
Either way, Tseng is a highly intriguing prospect who is one of the many
must-obsessively-follow prospects in the system.
http://tinyurl.com/ouzutta