Monday, February 18, 2008

Rustich to be used as a starter this season


2007 second-round pick Brant Rustich will be tried as a starter this season.
Rustich was largely unsuccessful as a closer at UCLA, but he excelled out of the pen after being drafted last season. He still projects as a reliever for the long-term, but there's no harm in looking at him in the rotation first.

STARTING OVER: The Mets, down starting pitchers in the upper levels of the minors after trading Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra to the Twins for Johan Santana, will use former UCLA closer Brant Rustich as a starter.



Personally, I think this is a good move. It doesn't really take away from his reliever potential, and we get to see what he can do as a starter. Even though I think he will ultimately become a reliever, he certainly has the arsenal to make it as a starter. He has 3 potential plus pitches, if they aren't already plus, he just needs to work on his control. He is also working in a circle changeup, and is said to be getting a lot of good movement on it so far. Hopefully he can dominate at St. Lucie, where he will start the season, and hopefully move up the ranks of pitching prospects before the end of the year. I could easily see him making it in the top 75 of lists if he does well as a starter, he definitely has the STUFF to excite scouts.

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