Model
of Consistency: Taylor Jungmann
The
past several years I have taken a look at select college players that
have excelled throughout their college careers, posting impressive
numbers since day one.
Matt Wieters was the first to be profiled when he was still playing with
Georgia Tech in 2007. Dustin Ackley of North Carolina was my target
two years ago, Buster Posey's ascent was chronicled in 2008, and Cal
State Fullerton's Christian Colon was featured last year.
As
the season opened I would have guessed that Rice's Anthony Rendon
would be the most logical player to be talked about in this regard,
but he has not come close to matching the impressive power numbers he
posted during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Rendon's
drop in productivity opened the door for Longhorns ace Taylor Jungmann in this feature, who like everyone else mentioned so far in
this story, hit the ground running upon arriving at Texas. I find it
interesting that he is the first pitcher I have profiled for
impressive consistency, as it would seem uncommon for a young hurler
to post such impressive numbers three years in a row.
Here
are those numbers (this year's statistics through games played as of
5/31/11):
2009:
11-3, 2.00 ERA, 25 games (10 starts), 1 complete game, 94.2 innings,
65 hits (7 extra-base hits), 101 strikeouts, 35 walks, .193
opponent's batting average.
2010:
8-3, 2.03 ERA, 17 games (all starts), 1 complete game, 120 innings,
88 hits (29 extra-base hits), 129 strikeouts, 41 walks, .209
opponent's batting average.
2011:
13-0, 0.95 ERA, 15 games (all starts), 5 complete games, 122 innings,
67 hits (11 extra-base hits), 116 strikeouts, 27 walks, .159
opponent's batting average.
Totals:
32-6, 1.63 ERA, 57 games (42 starts), 7 complete games, 336.2
innings, 220 hits (47 extra-base hits), 346 strikeouts, 103 walks.
Those
stats are nearing Nintendo-like numbers for the young hurler, whose
dominance through his career at Texas should put him down for one of
the all-time pitchers in the history of college baseball.
Due
to his increased workload, Jungmann did not pitch during the summers
after his freshman and sophomore years, and likely will be used
sparingly this summer as he begins his professional career.
His
strikeout totals aren't incredibly gaudy, as Jungmann's game is more
about command and changing speeds, but if you have ever watched him
pitch you know that he is just as dominant as any pure flamethrower.
The
number of the hits he has allowed, which is already low, that went
for extra bases, is incredibly impressive. Only 21 percent of his
hits went for extra bases, with a knack for inducing weak contact by
keeping hitters off-balance.
His
scouting report for this year's draft is included in the link above,
and the book on Jungmann hasn't changed much over the years. He
usually sits around 90-93, can hit the mid-90s and occasion and
frequently settles into the upper-80s later in games. The efficiency
in which he pitches allows him to regularly work deep into games, as
shown by the five complete games he has tossed this season while
averaging over eight innings per start.
His
changeup is an advanced pitch, and he throws both a slider and a
curveball, the latter of which has really improved over the last
calendar year. Jungmann is confident throwing any and all of his
pitchers for strikes in any count.
Most
are quick to label him as a third starter with that profile, although
we have all seen pitchers that play much bigger than their stuff when
they're able to master their craft as Jungmann has at the college
level. While his ceiling may be limited, he does have a very high
floor and seems to be a good bet to make it to the big-leagues fairly
quickly to enjoy a modest level of success at the very least.