Brad Wieck’s Height Gives His Fastball A Boost

In three years heading up the Padres, general manager A.J. Preller’s affinity for up-the-middle players stands out.

So, too, does his affinity for players with a carrying tool that grades as plus or better.

For that reason, 6-foot-9 lefthander Brad Wieck probably will be added to the 40-man roster this offseason. After all, the 26-year-old touches 97 mph.

“There were nights when he was locked in,” Double-A San Antonio manager Phillip Wellman said, “when (pitching coach Jimmy Jones) would look at me and say, ‘You know, this kid could pitch in the big leagues right now.’ ”

Wieck’s Texas League numbers certainly back that up.

He fanned a career-best 15 batters per nine innings, limited the opposition to a .191 average and fashioned a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 relief innings.

Wieck wasn’t effective in his first taste of Triple-A—he ran up a 10.29 ERA in seven innings at El Paso—and missed a chunk of the season to a hamstring injury, but he has received good overall grades since arriving from the Mets in June 2015 as the player to be named in the Alex Torres deal.

A 2014 seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma City University, Wieck shined in his first full season with the Padres in 2016. He recorded a 1.17 ERA in 61.1 innings and earned an invitation to the Arizona Fall League, where he pitched to a 6.57 ERA.

Wieck allowed three runs in five innings in big league camp in 2017, too, but the Padres believe in his stuff.

The tallest pitcher in the organization, Wieck’s 94-97 mph fastball is especially tough because of the angle and extension he gets on the pitch. He also mixes in a slider and a changeup—both of which he’ll have to wield more often as he moves up—and was more effective against righthanders (.169 average) than lefthanders (.222) in Double-A in 2017.

“His growth and development has to continue,” Wellman said, “but this year put him on the radar. Plus, you don’t see whole lot of 6-foot-9 lefties running around and throwing like he does.”