ANTHONY WATSON

5/30/85; '07 9th; Univ. of Nebraska
L/L; 6-4, 210

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9
K/9
WHIP
OAVG
ERA
2005 NCAA
6-1-1
23
5
44.2
41
 5
26
39
 5.2
7.9
1.50
.246
2.82
2006 NCAA
10-2-0
17
15
100.1
88
 8
24
69
 2.2
6.2
1.12
.236
2.78
2007 NCAA
6-4-0
15
15
99.0
96
 10
30
81
 2.7
7.4
1.27
.261
4.09
2007 A
1-1-0
3
3
14.0
14
 2
1
18
 0.6
11.6
1.07
.264
3.86
2007 A-
6-1-0
10
10
53.2
47
 4
7
40
 1.2
6.7
1.01
.230
2.52
2008 A+
8-12-0
28
28
151.2
149
16
36
104
2.1
6.2
1.22
.259
3.56
2009 AA
0-3-0
5
5
15.1
22
2
11
14
6.5
8.2
2.15
.344
8.22

Watson was eligible for the draft after his sophomore year in 2006, but fell to the 17th round due to concerns about his signability.  The Orioles selected him and tried to sign him, but couldn't.  His performance fell off in 2007 as his fastball, previously in the high 80s, lost a couple mph.  His effectiveness depends on an excellent changeup.  He also throws a curve.  Watson's sophomore eligibility resulted from him red-shirting after labrum surgery.  Watson was a rare instance of the Pirates drafting a player lower than he was expected to go instead of higher.  Their usual practice under Dave Littlefield was to overdraft in most of the top ten rounds, which made the players easier to sign for slot money.  Baseball America expected Watson to go much earlier than the 9th round, so with a year of eligibility left it seemed as though he might be hard to sign, but he did so a few days after the draft.

Watson opened at State College and pitched very well, allowing very few baserunners.  His K rate, however, was well below the league average and that's always a warning sign.  He was almost unhittable against LH batters, holding them to an OPS well under .500.  He moved up to Hickory for three starts and pitched well in two of them.  He fanned more than a batter an inning in that stint.  The Pirates pushed him up to Lynchburg to start the 2008 season and he had a good, but erratic, season.  He didn't allow many baserunners and showed excellent control, but had a low K rate and occasional gopher ball problems.  His fastball was often just in the mid-80s and he was also throwing 83-87 when I saw him in spring training in 2009.  He was an extreme flyball pitcher, with a ground out to air out ratio of 0.54, and remained much tougher against LH batters.  Watson had an odd tendency to bounce back and forth between outstanding and poor outings.  For instance, in his last eight starts, he had three in which he allowed only three hits in 21 IP, including one in which he allowed no hits over seven innings.  He also had three starts in which he allowed either five or six earned runs.  The issue with him will remain whether he can succeed at higher levels without very good stuff, relying instead mainly on his changeup.  He was the opening day starter for Altoona, but struggled through five bad starts and then went on the DL for the rest of the year with a strained elbow.  The injury probably explains the struggles before he went out; the control problems were completely uncharacteristic for Watson.  He's apparently OK, because the Pirates plan to send him to the Arizona Fall League.  Hopefully he'll be ready to give AA another try in 2010.

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