Follow the Prospects: Jake Bennett, LHP

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/06/02/jake-bennett-nationals-prospect-promoted/

To manage his workload, Bennett, 22, didn’t pitch in a professional game last year. This season, he’s worked on improving his breaking pitches, especially his curveball, and he’s seen positive results thanks to throwing what he describes as a “peanut.” Since spring training, Bennett has used a double ball — two baseballs taped on top of each other — to get a closer look at the spin of his breaking pitches.

“So you hold the bottom ball and try to get that end-over-end spin on it,” he said. “If you get that end-over-end spin, that’s what you want. If you’re a little bit on the side of the ball, it won’t spin right, and you’ll not be able to kind of get that instant feedback.”
...
Fredericksburg pitching coach Justin Lord said the goal of using the double ball is for Bennett to have the same release point on his curveball as his fastball. Lord said some young pitchers have a tendency to “cast” a baseball — releasing it from higher up to create the curve instead of allowing the pitch to move naturally by throwing it correctly.

If a pitcher’s mechanics are off and he casts the double ball, it will end up on his arm side and well off target. So the double ball reinforces strong mechanics and, as Lord put it, “makes it difficult to throw bad.” Lord said Bennett has thrown the double ball less recently because he has a better feel for his mechanics. Bennett believes the improved breaking pitches and a better command of his sinker in to lefties have “opened up a lot of windows” for his game.

[RD]

Not a bad debut at Wilmington.

5ip 3h 1r 2bb 8k

[imref]

Not a bad debut at Wilmington.

5ip 3h 1r 2bb 8k

[imref]

4IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 2K, HBP Last night

[Natsinpwc]

4IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 2K, HBP Last night

Good stats.  Wonder why only four innings?  Must be limiting his innings.

[RD]

Good stats.  Wonder why only four innings?  Must be limiting his innings.

Only 61 pitches too.

He pitched 117 innings in college last year, so its a bit of a surprise that they would be limiting him at all at this point. I would think 130-135 wouldn't be an issue, and hes only at 51 so far.

[imref]

The article above notes he didn’t pitch at all last year. Maybe they have designs on calling him up once gore and irvin max out? 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The article above notes he didn’t pitch at all last year. Maybe they have designs on calling him up once gore and irvin max out? 

get him to about 80 by the end of July and he can finish with 50 more innings by the end of the year. Figure 6 more minor starts before August, 30 more innings.  Another 4 or two, then some 5 inning appearances and then ramp up to 6.

[RD]

The article above notes he didn’t pitch at all last year. Maybe they have designs on calling him up once gore and irvin max out? 

He pitched 117 innings in college. With that inning count, we didn't have him pitch professionally once signing.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

He pitched 117 innings in college. With that inning count, we didn't have him pitch professionally once signing.

I really think they are just trying to spread the 130 innings over 6 months. They say they like pitchers to pitch a full pro season. That could be why they are going a bit light midseason after the promotion

[RD]

I really think they are just trying to spread the 130 innings over 6 months. They say they like pitchers to pitch a full pro season. That could be why they are going a bit light midseason after the promotion

I'm not trying to make a big deal out of it. Who knows their exact plan. We're almost at the halfway point of the season, and hes at 51 innings. Doubling that gets you to 102. Just on basic numbers it's interesting that they'd hold him back already. But obviously there's a lot left. They could let him push to 6/7 innings more often in the 2nd half. A promotion to AA means a few more games for the team, which could be an extra start or two. Maybe the playoffs. Who knows, maybe a cup of coffee in September. I was just giving an initial reaction to such a short start. I figured you would keep him at 5/6 ip the rest of the way and it would get him to the 130 mark without any real creativity in limiting the work.

[blue911]

Seems overly cautious conversion to pitching on four days rest.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

You both may be right, but I do think stretching him thru September is part of it.

[imref]

hasn't pitched since June 24

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Rizzo reveals:

As for Jake Bennett, the left-hander picked in the second round behind Green, Washington is closely monitoring his innings, which is why he hasn’t pitched since June 24.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/18/nationals-cubs-bullpen-blowout/

[RD]

It's very odd what they're doing with Bennett.  Completely shutting him down for 5 weeks mid year doesn't seem good for anyone. He already had a strong foundation for innings in college ball last year.  They were already watching his innings by him averaging less than 5ip per start. He only hit 70 pitches in 6/12 starts and only hit 80 in 2 of those 6, with a high of 88. That was enough to account for the switch from 6 days to 4 days between starts.  He'll be lucky to get to 100 innings this year. Wilmington has 33 games left. Even if he makes 7 starts, averaging 6ip per start(which I can't see happening) he won't reach 100.  It seems more likely he's in the 85ip range. He hit 117 in collegelast year.

Only thing I can think of his limiting his innings, then sending him to the AFL to rack up a few more. It's odd that for no reason, they'd have him pitch less than he did in college by design.

[blue911]

It's very odd what they're doing with Bennett.  Completely shutting him down for 5 weeks mid year doesn't seem good for anyone. He already had a strong foundation for innings in college ball last year.  They were already watching his innings by him averaging less than 5ip per start. He only hit 70 pitches in 6/12 starts and only hit 80 in 2 of those 6, with a high of 88. That was enough to account for the switch from 6 days to 4 days between starts.  He'll be lucky to get to 100 innings this year. Wilmington has 33 games left. Even if he makes 7 starts, averaging 6ip per start(which I can't see happening) he won't reach 100.  It seems more likely he's in the 85ip range. He hit 117 in collegelast year.

Only thing I can think of his limiting his innings, then sending him to the AFL to rack up a few more. It's odd that for no reason, they'd have him pitch less than he did in college by design.

I read an article by Glenn Fleisig that stated that a month of no baseball activity is what’s needed to fully rest the arm. It was decade ago so I don’t know if he still maintains this view.

Edit: by fully He meant that any in season rest of 1 or 2 starts was useless because of all the throw sessions you’d have to have in to return that soon.

[RD]

I read an article by Glenn Fleisig that stated that a month of no baseball activity is what’s needed to fully rest the arm. It was decade ago so I don’t know if he still maintains this view.

Edit: by fully He meant that any in season rest of 1 or 2 starts was useless because of all the throw sessions you’d have to have in to return that soon.

That's fine but I just dont see why that was needed. Shutting down for a month means it's going to take another month to ramp back up to get meaningful work. The season has 5 weeks left. A shut down with 56 innings, with a strict pitch count, after throwing 117 last year in college just doesn't make sense. They might as well have just let him make a few more starts, get to 75 ip and shut him down.

Then there's the argument that a complete shut down is stupid. He already pitched a full season in college with 117 innings. He has a chance to reach the bigs next year with his blend of size, stuff, results, age, and body of work(college workload). But now he'll be in an innings limit again, and his only consistent pro experience was 12 starts/56 innings and a long shut down. That's not preparing him to get through a full pro season.

He doesn't need to be on that strict of an innings limit. He could've hit 120 pro innings this year the pace he was going, and that should've been no problem after going 117 last year. Especially with lower pitch counts and innings per outing.

Even just skipping a couple starts does "save" the arm. Bullpens aren't the same stress level as a game. You have him skip 2-4 starts with maintenance pens, and hes still throwing but its less stress on the arm, and you've saved him 10-20 innings from his total. He shouldn't be a guy you're looking to keep at 75-85 innings because he's 19 and never done it before. He's 6'6 230, 22 years old, almost 23. He was a college kid, and topped 100 innings there. I just dont see the reason to go backwards.

Maybe he actually was having some arm issues. Fatigue, not an injury. Who knows. Without anything public, it's just seems like an odd schedule for him. There is the possibility of pitching in the AFL against better talent, but he could go 85-90 during the season and still go 25 in the AFL, without any increase in innings from the previous year.

[blue911]

That's fine but I just dont see why that was needed. Shutting down for a month means it's going to take another month to ramp back up to get meaningful work. The season has 5 weeks left. A shut down with 56 innings, with a strict pitch count, after throwing 117 last year in college just doesn't make sense. They might as well have just let him make a few more starts, get to 75 ip and shut him down.

Then there's the argument that a complete shut down is stupid. He already pitched a full season in college with 117 innings. He has a chance to reach the bigs next year with his blend of size, stuff, results, age, and body of work(college workload). But now he'll be in an innings limit again, and his only consistent pro experience was 12 starts/56 innings and a long shut down. That's not preparing him to get through a full pro season.

He doesn't need to be on that strict of an innings limit. He could've hit 120 pro innings this year the pace he was going, and that should've been no problem after going 117 last year. Especially with lower pitch counts and innings per outing.

Even just skipping a couple starts does "save" the arm. Bullpens aren't the same stress level as a game. You have him skip 2-4 starts with maintenance pens, and hes still throwing but its less stress on the arm, and you've saved him 10-20 innings from his total. He shouldn't be a guy you're looking to keep at 75-85 innings because he's 19 and never done it before. He's 6'6 230, 22 years old, almost 23. He was a college kid, and topped 100 innings there. I just dont see the reason to go backwards.

Maybe he actually was having some arm issues. Fatigue, not an injury. Who knows. Without anything public, it's just seems like an odd schedule for him. There is the possibility of pitching in the AFL against better talent, but he could go 85-90 during the season and still go 25 in the AFL, without any increase in innings from the previous year.

I’m not advocating a shutdown. If he’s healthy, he should be pitching.

[Slateman]

Probably tore his elbow or spleen or something

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Given the news about Cronin and Green, I think the working assumption is that the Nats will not disclose an injury to a minor league player unless it is near-comically obvious in the field (think the Black Knight from Monty Python, but make it a pitcher) or they are forced to make some sort of roster move.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Lefty Jake Bennett, the Nationals’ second-round pick in 2022, is dealing with a “minor arm issue,” Watson said, but is slated to pitch again Monday for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Bennett, 22, hasn’t pitched since June 24 but was dominant in 12 starts before then. He has a 1.77 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 56 innings between Fredericksburg and Wilmington. . . .

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/09/dylan-crews-grand-slam-frednats-nationals/

[Slateman]

"Minor arm issue"

Gonna go ahead and say that there are no "minor" arm issues for pitchers.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

"Minor arm issue"

Gonna go ahead and say that there are no "minor" arm issues for pitchers.

bad tattoo?

[imref]

Pitched two innings yesterday