Player Profile: Patrick Young

     Patrick Young is a 6’7” 208 lb. Sophomore from Villanova University. This tall right-hander was the ace for his Wildcats team this spring. He led his team in ERA (4.39), opponent’s batting average (.273), win-loss percentage (.545), wins (6), innings pitched (82), strikeouts (61), and games started (14). This summer, he has been successful as a middle-innings reliever. He has posted a very good opponent’s batting average (.250), an excellent earned run average (2.57), and a respectable WHIP (1.240).
     His Villanova profile talks about how Patrick has an arsenal of pitches. He throws an 88-93 mph fastball that sits from 91-93, a 74-78 mph curve, a power curve/slider that he can throw from 80-84 mph, and a nice little change-up around 78 that he likes to throw to left-handed batters. On top of keeping hitters off-balance with his array of pitches, Pat creates a great deal of deception through his delivery. From the wind-up, he starts with a high leg-kick and then bends over from the waist. The initial look is that he is going to throw side-arm, but he throws from an overhand delivery. That is extremely difficult for a batter to adjust to when the ball gets on you at 93 mph! While his upper body mechanics are very unorthodox, Young shows a very good leg drive for a taller pitcher. He allows his drive leg to finish naturally, and his arm only has a slight kick back. He is successful throwing from the stretch, because he implements a slide-step. He doesn’t lose a lot of power because of the momentum his core and trunk generate through his delivery. With the departures of Tyler Skulina, Mike Mayers, and Jaron Long, the starting rotation has some missing pieces. He has proven he can succeed out of the bullpen and as a starter this calendar year. Based on his success at Villanova, I would not be surprised to see Pat Young innings increase quite a bit this last week of the season; his role could be as a spot-starter or long reliever.  I would be even less surprised if this tall, hard-throwing righty sees his named called in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft.