22. Donald Veal, LHP
2009 Season: The Pirates selected Veal in the 2008 Rule 5 draft, meaning they had to keep him on the active roster the entire season in order to keep him in the organization beyond 2009. After a few questionable assignments to the disabled list, Veal ended up staying with the Pirates the entire season, while rarely getting playing time in the majors.
Veal made just five appearances before the month of July, pitching a combined 6.1 innings, with ten walks and six strikeouts. Veal went on the disabled list at the end of May with a strained groin, and didn't return to the Pirates until July 8th. From that point to the beginning of August, Veal made six appearances, pitching 3.2 innings, with six walks and three strikeouts.
The Pirates again placed Veal on the disabled list in early August with a sprained left index finger, allowing them to stash him on the disabled list until rosters expanded in September. Veal not only saw more opportunities in September, making eight appearances for 6.1 innings, but he also cut down the walks, with four walks and seven strikeouts in that span. The four walks in 6.1 innings isn't special, but much better than the 16 walks in his previous 10 innings.
Veal spent some time in the minors doing "rehab work", combining for 27.1 innings between Altoona and Indianapolis. In those innings, Veal combined for a 3.95 ERA, and a 31:26 K/BB ratio.
Veal only pitched 43.2 innings in 2009, but that's not to say he didn't see a lot of work. Veal reportedly worked with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan throughout the season, often coming to the park early to get extra work in. The extra work on the side may be paying off a bit, as Veal has looked spectacular in the Arizona Fall League. So far, in 12.2 innings of work, Veal has a 0.71 ERA with a 12:2 K/BB ratio. The level of talent is no where near the same that Veal saw in the majors, but the cut down in walks is encouraging.
Information: Just two years ago Veal was the number two prospect in the Chicago Cubs farm system according to Baseball America. He drew comparisons to Dontrelle Willis, back when comparisons to Dontrelle Willis were a good thing. Veal had a fastball that hit 95 MPH, a 74-79 MPH curveball that was a strikeout pitch when effective, and a solid changeup. The only problem? Walks.
Veal always struggled with walks throughout his minor league career, with a 4.7-4.9 BB/9 ratio in three levels of A-ball heading in to the 2007 season. Veal posted a 5.0 BB/9 ratio in 2007 at the AA level, and followed that up with another 5.0 BB/9 ratio in AA in the 2008 season. Veal's BB/9 ratio in the minors between AA and AAA in 2009 was 8.6, and his BB/9 ratio in the majors this season was 11.0.
Veal has long arms and pitches with a big leg kick and a high three quarters slot. His delivery is complicated, which leads to his control issues, as his mechanics are tough to repeat. Veal also has seen a decline in his velocity, working mostly in the low 90s, and rarely touching 93 or above in the 2009 season.
Veal is a big 6' 4" left hander, and turned 25 in September. He's very raw, but still has some potential to be an effective pitcher. The window is closing, but a full year of work with Kerrigan could finally be paying off. While it's hard to take the small sample size of the 2009 Arizona Fall League seriously, it's the first time Veal has shown this level of control in his entire professional career. Veal can be a successful pitcher if he cuts down on the walks, which means he needs to figure out how to control and repeat his delivery, while at the same time maintaining the quality of his individual pitches. That sounds like a lot, but it's where Joe Kerrigan's work can come up big for Veal.
2010 Expectations: Veal will likely spend the 2010 season in the Indianapolis rotation, since Daniel McCutchen and Kevin Hart will likely get the first and second crack at the final spot in the major league rotation. If he carries over his AFL success to AAA, he could be in the majors by the end of the season.
Optimistic Projection: At this point it would be optimistic to expect Veal to fix his control issues enough to be a middle of the rotation starter. I'm not going to say it's impossible though, as Veal has put in a lot of time with Kerrigan, and the 2009 results may be a little misleading due to the inconsistent work load as a Rule 5 selection. I think best case we could see Veal as a 3.5 BB/9 pitcher, with an 8.0 K/9 ratio or better. That would make him a good 2-3 starter for the Pirates.
Conservative Projection: In his entire career, Veal has never posted a BB/9 ratio below 4.5 in a single season. If he doesn't manage to fix his control issues, he could end up as an Oliver Perez/Jonathan Sanchez clone. He'd likely put up a start every now and then that would make you think he's got it all figured out, only to absolutely bomb the next time around. Then when you're about to give up on him, he dazzles you again, making you think he could one day figure it out. I'm hoping the actual result for Veal is somewhere between the optimistic and conservative projection.
Check back tomorrow for prospect number 21...
