TOM GORZELANNY

7/12/82; '03 2nd; Triton (Ill.) JC
S/L; 6-3, 200

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA
2003 A-	1-2-0	8	8	30.1	23	10	22	1.78
2004 A+	3-5-0	10	10	55.2	54	19	61	4.85
2004 A	7-2-0	16	15	93.0	63	34	106	2.23

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	OAVG	OOBP	OSLG
2005 NL	0-1-0	3	1	6.0	10	3	3	12.00	.357	.419	.571
2005 AA	8-5-0	23	23	129.2	114	46	124	3.26	.236	.307	.346
2006 NL	2-5-0	11	11	61.2	50	31	40	3.79	.226	.327	.326
2006 AAA	6-5-0	16	16	99.2	67	27	94	2.35	.194	.255	.289
2007 NL	14-10-0	32	32	201.2	214	68	135	3.88	.273	.336	.411

Gorzelanny had a breakout year in 2004, resulting in him being named the 13th best prospect in the SAL and 11th best in the Carolina League.  He continued his success in 2005, eventually being added to the 40-man roster and making his major league debut.  In 2006, he dominated AAA and joined the Pirates' rotation in the season's second half.  Then continuing his upward trend, in 2007 he established himself as one of the better LH starters in the majors.

When the Bucs drafted him, he was regarded as having a very good arm but was considered to be a project.  He redshirted a year at the University of Kansas, then struggled there before leaving for junior college.  He was throwing 91-94 early in 2003, but lost velocity as he had problems with his mechanics.  After the draft, he was very effective at Williamsport, although his K rate was a bit low.  He was chosen the league's 10th best prospect and made a better impression on NY-P managers and scouts than #1 pick Paul Maholm.  At Hickory in 2004 he was outstanding, with especially strong H/IP and K/IP #s, which are probably the best indicators of future success at higher levels.  He threw consistently in the low 90s with good life, and reached 96 during the SAL All-Star Game.  Gorzelanny earned a promotion to Lynchburg, where his #s were better than his ERA.  He did get hit harder and had control problems at times, but he kept his K rate over one per IP.  At the time, he was throwing five pitches:  fastball, splitter, change, curve and slider.  He pitched in relief for Altoona in the Eastern League playoffs and did very well, allowing only one run in 9 IP.

Gorzelanny was expected to open 2005 in the Altoona rotation, but he was shut down in camp when he came up with a sore shoulder.  He said the same problem had bothered him before.  Thankfully, an examination revealed no serious problem.  He joined the Curve early in the season and had a good year, holding hitters to a 236/307/346 line and fanning just under a batter an inning.  He was erratic at times, mainly with his control, as his mechanics still were inconsistent.  Much of the time, however, he was dominant, most of all in his only playoff start, when he threw a complete game, 4-hit shutout, fanning 13 and walking none.

Gorzelanny was nearly unhittable in AAA in 2006, holding opposing hitters to a measly OPS of under .550.  He didn't slip much after getting called up to the majors, allowing only a .653 OPS.  The one negative sign was a tendency to fall behind and run up higher pitch counts than would be ideal.  He was shut down once again late in the season, for a month with elbow tendinitis.  All of the Pirates' four young starters—Gorzelanny, Maholm, Zach Duke and Ian Snell—set career highs for innings pitched, and all had to be shut down either late in 2006 or in 2007 with arm ailments.

Gorzelanny went into camp in 2007 expected to be in the rotation, but he was awful during the spring.  Many Pirate fans wailed loudly when the Pirates chose to stick with Gorzelanny and send down Sean Burnett, who allowed no runs in his exhibition appearances, but the Pirates obviously made the right choice.  Gorzelanny was solid throughout the season until he seemingly tired during September, allowing 16 earned runs and 32 hits in his last 16.2 IP.  The Pirates thought about skipping his last start, but Gorzelanny wanted to try for his 15th win, which he didn't get.  He did, however, post his first 200-inning season.  He didn't show quite the velocity he had in the past, generally pitching around 88-91, but he has enough movement that he doesn't seem to need to throw harder.  His offspeed stuff is devastating against LH batters, who managed an OPS of only .572 against him.  He wasn't nearly as effective against RH batters, though, as they had an OPS of .782.  He still sometimes goes deep in the count to a lot of hitters and, as a result, ran up some high pitch counts—ten games with 110 or more, including one with 120 and one with 123—as Jim Tracy seemed to ride him hard due to lack of confidence in the bullpen.  Even when he didn't seem to have much, though, Gorzelanny almost always managed to give the team a decent number of innings.  He had one start of four and one of two and a third, and otherwise always went at least five.  He's a flyball pitcher; ironically, although the team under Dave Littlefield was obsessed with groundball finesse pitchers, the three pitchers who are easily their best—Gorzelanny, Snell and Matt Capps—are all flyball pitchers.  Gorzelanny should go into 2008 as the #1 or #2 starter.

Return to Left-Handed Pitchers