FutureSox.com: As referred to by Bucky Dent.

Lin with another strong outing last night....

 

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/spor...07-05-0010.html

 

Lin (2-0, 0.64 ERA) yeilded five hits and one run in his five innings of work. He did not issue a walk and recorded six strikeouts. Garrett Johnson and Adam Tollefson polished off the victory with strong relief efforts.

 

Bristol won 14-1, btw.

Lin with another strong outing last night....

 

http://www.tricities.com/tristate/tri/spor...07-05-0010.html

Bristol won 14-1, btw.

Jeez, he finally gave up a run (in his 4th game). He must be losing his stuff.

I emailed the guy that wrote the article on him a little while back. I'm hoping he'll get back to me with some info on Lin's velocity down there, but with those numbers I'd assume he's doing something right.

Glad to see him doing good. He looked good in that one scouting video of his from when we signed him.

The guy that wrote the article on Lin wrote me back, surprisingly.

 

To answer your question, I saw Lin pitch the first two innings of last Friday's suspended game at Kingsport. His velocity topped out at 86, staying consistently around 84 or 85. He appears to have excellent command of the fastball and good mound presence.

My guess is he may have a little more velocity in him, as pitchers down here routinely don't throw as hard as they do in another year or two. His mechanics are excellent and he has a long pause at the top of his windup like many Asian pitchers.

 

He also told "the futuresox guy" to keep up the good work, I'd assume that is Heads. But anyways, I hope his point about the velocity is right, mid 80's is a bit discouraging. Hopefully he is able to build his stamina and get around 90 or so as time goes on, his numbers sure are good so far.

Edited July 6, 200718 yr by whitesoxfan101

well, hopefully when he gets some more work his arm will get looser and he will gain some velocity.

Well, since the big club has everyone sad today, its a good time for the month-end AAP updates...

 

Po-Yu Lin's July numbers came back down to earth a bit, but were still very solid. Here is his July line:

 

W-L: 3-2

ERA: 3.63

G: 7

GS: 6

IP: 34.2

H: 37

ER: 14

HR: 4

BB: 9

K: 38

WHIP: 1.33

GO/AO: 1.20

AVGA: .268

 

A bit high on hits againts, but a 1.33 WHIP, an ERA of 3.63 and a K/BB ratio of 4.2/1 is nothing to sneeze at.

 

His season totals thus far are now:

 

W-L: 4-2

ERA: 2.95

G: 9

GS: 8

IP: 42.2

H: 43

ER: 14

HR: 4

BB: 9

K: 46

WHIP: 1.22

GO/AO: 1.31

AVGA: .257

 

Still looking good. Depending on how the next month or two shake out in the system, don't be surprised if he gets a promotion to low A.

With Bristol's season over, its time for a final update on PYL...

 

Lin had a surprisingly solid rookie season at Bristol, especially after his disappointing showing in spring camp. Here are Lin's final numbers...

 

Team League W L ERA  G GS CG SHO SV  IP   H  R  ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG 
BRI   APP   6 5 3.30 14 11 0  0  0  62.2  71 33 23 6  17 65 1.07 .280

 

That 3.30 ERA is definitely encouraging, and perhaps even more important is his 65/17 K/BB ratio. That control seems to be his strong suit, and that was consistent throughout the season. He did have a few bad performances as the year went on though, mostly towards the end. Looking at his last 10 appearances, his ERA was 4.07, and it appears he was getting hit around - 59 hits in 48.2 IP. So overall a decent showing in Rookie-type ball, though he has some things to work on.

 

Looking forward to 2008, it appears that Lin has solid control, but batters are hitting him too often. As a 20-year-old, one hopes he can spend the offseason getting a bit stronger, maybe adding a few more MPH to his stuff. Scouting reports indicate he has excellent movement on his breaking stuff, so if he can add a little more speed to his fastball, he should continue to develop well. Best guess, he'll be in low-A Kannapolis' rotation in 2008.

 

Lin doesn't have a chance if he is in the middle eighties in the minors.

Lin doesn't have a chance if he is in the middle eighties in the minors.

It all depends on how much movement he has on his fastball IMO. Paul Byrd is nothing special but he's had success in the Majors. He'll never be a highly rated prospect because of his low velocity and the odds will be more against him, but I wouldn't say that he doesn't have a chance.

Lin doesn't have a chance if he is in the middle eighties in the minors.

I haven't been able to find anything about his velocity this year at Bristol. We all know he was touted as low 90's with ridiculous movement, then showed up in ST with low 80's. The question is, given his success at Bristol, did he find some velocity again? If anyone has any info on his speed during the season, that would be great to have.

 

I haven't been able to find anything about his velocity this year at Bristol. We all know he was touted as low 90's with ridiculous movement, then showed up in ST with low 80's. The question is, given his success at Bristol, did he find some velocity again? If anyone has any info on his speed during the season, that would be great to have.

 

I emailed the Bristol beat writer twice (once I posted in here, and another time about 2 weeks ago), and both times, he said Lin was in the mid 80's.

I emailed the Bristol beat writer twice (once I posted in here, and another time about 2 weeks ago), and both times, he said Lin was in the mid 80's.

Oh yeah, I see that now. Sorry, missed that somehow.

 

Well, maybe they can put this 20 year old on a strength program for the offseason.

 

It all depends on how much movement he has on his fastball IMO. Paul Byrd is nothing special but he's had success in the Majors. He'll never be a highly rated prospect because of his low velocity and the odds will be more against him, but I wouldn't say that he doesn't have a chance.

 

Paul Byrd didn't get to the majors throwing in the mid eighties either. He threw harder than that, and slowly but surely lost that speed.

No word on if Lin is in Tucson this year for ST. He was a disappointment last spring velocity-wise, though he did put together a solid season at Bristol after extended ST. He's probably headed for Kanny this year, but they might keep him back in Great Falls. He needs to add some velocity.

 

Lin is not on the roster of either Kanny or W-S, and MILB still shows him as being with Bristol, his team last season. More than likely, this means he'll be at Great Falls as a 21-year-old for the 2008 season.

 

Turns out PYL is back in Bristol again to start this season. Seems sort of odd to me, since he did pretty well numbers-wise in 2007, but, who knows that the plan with him is. Don't be surprised if he goes to GF or Kanny as the season goes on.

 

He's started two games so far. His first game he struggled - went 3.1 IP, giving up 7 hits, 3 ER, walking 3 and striking out 2. His second outing he seemed to recover nicely though, going a solid 6 IP, giving up 3 hits, 2 ER, 1 walk and 4 K's.

 

End of July Update...

 

PYL was doing well enough in Bristol that he was promoted (if you call it that) to Great Falls.

 

Here are his final numbers at Bristol:

 

G: 6

IP: 31.2

W/L: 1-2

ERA: 2.56

H: 30

ER: 9

BB: 11

K: 25

WHIP: 1.29

GO/AO: 0.94

 

That GO/AO number is a bit weak, but he otherwise looked decent. He's pitched just one game for GF so far, in relief, and it didn't go so well... 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Hopefully he's just adjusting and will improve, as he did in 2007.

 

END OF 2008 REGULAR SEASON UPDATE...

 

Lin struggled a bit upon landing at GF, but came back stronger. He was used exclusively out of the pen. Better than looking at his brief numbers for the year, look at his games log while there...

 

Date: IP, H, ER, BB, K

Aug 01: 2.0 4 2 0 3

Aug 04: 1.1 4 3 0 3

Aug 13: 2.1 4 1 0 2

Aug 19: 1.1 1 0 0 2

Aug 31: 2.0 0 0 0 2

 

Note that he improved as the season went on. He also didn't walk a single hitter in his 9 innings pitched (against 12 K's). Also, he had a 1.33 GO/AO at GF, which while not great, is better than the 0.94 he had at Bristol.

 

2009? I'd guess Lin is now pretty much a bullpen guy, and will probably start 2009 at Kanny. He may get another chance to start, but, its hard to tell.

After showing up in the US with far less velocity than advertised, and with two unremarkable years in rookie ball under his belt, the Sox released Po-Yu Lin in October of 2008. So ends the Lin era.

 

Closing thread.