40-man, Player by Player: Anthony Varvaro

by ~ March 15th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

Browse entire “40-man, Player by Player” series here.
Previous entry: Jason Vargas.  Next up: Sean White.

One more after this one and we’re on to the position players.

Anthony Varvaro was drafted in the 12th round of the 2005 draft out of St. Johns University.  He projected to go much higher in the draft– perhaps as high as the early second round– before he blew out his elbow, requiring Tommy John surgery.

Upon returning, Varvaro was used as a starter for two seasons but didn’t show the command required for the rotation.  He had a BB/9 of 6 to go along in 2008 as a starter for High Desert.  He apparently wasn’t locating his pitches well when he did find the strikezone either, as he was rocked for 22 homers in the hitter friendly environment.  2009 marked the first season he was used exclusively as a reliever, and he fared a little better as his walks weren’t quite as debilitating.

But he is still far too wild to be a big leaguer.  Last season between High Desert and West Tenn he put up a 3.34 ERA and struck out 73 hitters in 62 innings, but walked a whopping 50 batters (7.3 BB/9).  That is unacceptable at any level.

But Varvaro is close.  He was added to the 40-man roster this offseason in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and will work on his control at West Tenn and/or Tacoma this season.  If he can cut his walk rate by 45-50% he’s a big leaguer.  Easier said than done, I suppose.

For what it’s worth, Varvaro only walked 3 in 13.1 Arizona Fall League innings to close out the year, striking out 11.

Varvaro’s velocity has started coming back since the surgery, and his four seam fastball is now in the mid-90s.  He pairs that with a good 12-6 curve, will mix in a few changeups against lefties and occasionally throws a splitter and slider to cross hitters up (both were pitches he once relied upon heavily, but have been all but eliminated from his arsenal due to health concerns).

Varvaro has 2 strikeouts and 1 walk in 2 innings so far this spring.  He can be considered a dark horse, but more likely he’ll just be trying to make a good impression so he can get one of the first call ups when the Mariners needs some help in the bullpen.

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  • http://proballnw.com Conor Dowley

    I’m a BIG fan of Varvaro, but I’m far from convinced he’s ready for the bigs just yet. Let’s see him in Tacoma for a few months first.

    • http://proballnw.com Jon

      I’m with ya.

  • http://bleedingblueandteal.com/ Rob T.

    Staten Island represent.

  • marc w

    Varvaro was optioned down to AA today, which doesn’t surprise me given that his velocity seemed to be down significantly in spring training. Maybe it’s nothing (sample size of 2 innings!), but it just wasn’t where it was in the AFL. Don’t know if they were working on a 2 seamer to help with his command or what. In any event, it’s probably good to see what Lance Painter can do with him in AA.
    Yes, he’d be repeating the league, but with a new coaching staff, I’m curious to see what he does this year. Same with Cortes, also sent to AA. I’d definitely expect Cortes in AAA before too long, but this may be a testament to the org’s faith in Painter.