Colton Willems Stats & Scouting Report

IP	220
ERA	4.009
WHIP	1.405
BB/9	3.15
SO/9	5.359

Full name Colton Kristofer Willems
Born 07/30/1988 in Fort Pierce, FL
Profile Ht.: 6'4" / Wt.: 175 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School John Carroll Catholic
Drafted in the 1st round (22nd overall) by the Washington Nationals in 2006 (signed for $1,425,000).

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Willems surfaced as an elite arm last summer, garnering most valuable pitcher honors at the Cape Cod Classic in July. His velocity spiked this spring, and he came out pitching at 92 mph and bumping 97 in a relief outing. He is compared to Matt Latos, another hard-throwing righthander from southeast Florida, and Willems holds the edge entering the draft because of better makeup and fastball command. Willems pitches off his fastball and spots it to all four quadrants of the strike zone. He has thrown both a curve and a slider, and both pitches are inconsistent. His slider will likely be his best secondary option. His changeup isn't a put-away pitch, but he does have a feel for it. While he's not muscular, he should be able to log innings as a back-of-the-rotation starter. He could be drafted as high as the back of the first round.

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Willems never has shown the overpowering stuff in pro ball that made him a first-round pick worth a $1.425 million bonus coming out of high school. He hasn't missed many bats in his first three pro seasons, though he did stay healthy for a full season in 2008 and posted decent results thanks to his competitiveness. Far from the 93-97 mph fastball he showed in high school, Willems' heater sat at 87-90 and topped out at 91 in 2008. He threw a slider in his prep days, but the Nationals made him switch to a curveball shortly after he joined the system. He raised his arm slot in order to throw the curve, and it affected his velocity. Washington let him go back to the slider in 2008, and he showed an improved ability to power through the pitch. He also threw some promising curves in instructional league. Willems has made progress over the last two years with his changeup, which is now close to an average pitch. He tends to cut his fastball a bit, which might be another reason his velocity has dropped. The Nationals want Willems to work on just throwing the ball instead of placing it. If he ever can regain his former stuff, Willems still has plenty of upside, but it's hard to imagine him succeeding at higher levels with what he showed in 2008.
After a sore elbow limited him to 16 innings in his 2006 pro debut, Willems looked strong against older competition in the New York-Penn League. Vermont manager Darnell Coles said Willems grew about two inches over the summer, and he pitches from an imposing downhill plane. Willems worked at 87-93 mph and touched 94-95 this summer, and he ran his fastball up to 97 mph at times in high school. He commands his heater very well down in the zone, and he flashes a promising curveball and changeup. Like Jordan Zimmermann, he has shelved the slider he carried into pro ball. Willems matured quite a bit with Vermont, and his demeanor on the mound never changes no matter the situation. Shaky command of his secondary pitches means Willems works in a lot of unfavorable counts and always seems to be running into jams. He made some progress with his curveball and changeup early in the summer but leveled out in the second half. His 1.84 ERA at Vermont is misleading because 13 of the 25 runs he allowed were unearned. With an athletic frame, a live arm and a loose, easy delivery, Willems has one of the highest ceilings in the system, but he's still very much a work in progress. He should advance to low Class A in 2008.
Willems surfaced as an elite arm in the summer of 2005, garnering mostvaluable- pitcher honors at the Cape Cod Classic in July. He shut it down after the Aflac All-American game, and as a result had the freshest arm in Florida's deep high school pitching crop last spring. He went 22nd overall in June and signed for $1.425 million. Willems has a lightning-quick arm and a clean, easy delivery from a high three-quarters slot. His velocity spiked in the spring, when he came out pitching at 92 mph and bumped 97 in a relief outing, and he pitched at 91-93 as a starter last summer. With a tall, projectable frame, he gets good downward angle on his pitches. He secured his first-round status after his high school pitching coach, former major leaguer David West, taught him a mid-80s slider to replace his curveball. Though Willems locates his fastball well on both sides of the plate, he needs to command his slider better in order to make it a plus pitch. His changeup could become average, but it's in the very early stages of its development. The Nationals shut down Willems with mild elbow soreness in August, though they say they were just being extra cautious and it's not a long-term concern. Willems has the stuff to become a No. 1 starter, but he'll need time and patience to reach his ceiling. He could start 2007 in low Class A.

Minor League Top Prospects

After drafting Willems in the first round last June, the Nationals shut him down after 16 innings when he came down with a sore elbow. He came out strong this summer, regularly running his fastball up to 94-95 mph and pitching in the low 90s. His downer curveball and changeup are both promising offerings, but he's still working on refining his command. Willems grew about two inches this summer and is now 6-foot-6, and he pitches from an imposing downhill plane. He does a good job pounding his fastball down in the zone. He matured quite a bit with Vermont, and his demeanor on the mound never changes no matter the situation.