Francisco Samuel Stats & Scouting Report

IP	238
ERA	5.256
WHIP	1.824
BB/9	8.622
SO/9	11.269

Full name Francisco Antonio Samuel
Born 12/20/1986 in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 185 / Bats: R / Throws: R

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Even as he inches toward the majors, Samuel remains an untamed talent. He has a live arm but hasn't been able to consistently show the command necessary for success at the higher levels. Reed-thin with an easy and explosive delivery, Samuel throws a fastball that regularly hums at 98 mph and can touch triple digits. It's when he has to throw a strike that his velocity plummets, as he works in the low 90s to assure he'll find the strike zone. He also throws a high-80s slider that he also struggles to harness. In each of the last three years, Samuel has allowed more walks than hits. His wildness was most pronounced in Triple-A, where he walked 18 batters in 12 innings in the final month of the 2010 season. He has the pure stuff to be a closer and hitters can't make consistent contact against him, but it won't matter if he can't control throw strikes. He'll probably open 2011 back in Memphis.
Slight of build but strong-armed, Samuel has some of the most electric stuff in the system. If he's ever able to harness it, he's capable of bolting to the big leagues and possibly becoming a closer. The reed-thin reliever has become the headliner from the Cardinals' campus in the Dominican Republic, which the team opened in November 2005, and was added to the 40-man roster last fall. His fastball touches 98 mph regularly, but that's when he's just letting it loose. He has better control of his heater at 94-95, and control is the key to his future. He has walked 153 batters in 162 pro innings, and his inability to throw consistent strikes cost him the closer's job to Eduardo Sanchez in Springfield last summer. The combination of Samuel's high-speed fastball and his 85-90 mph slider makes him virtually unhittable. He has has an easy, explosive delivery with none of the high-exertion mechanics of other fireballers. Sometimes his delivery wavers, causing him to leave his pitches up in the zone. But most believe his command troubles are mental rather than mechanical. As one club official said, "Someday it's going to click." That's the day Samuel speeds to the majors.
Samuel is the top candidate to lead the charge for the Cardinals' first generation of players identified and cultivated by their new campus in the Dominican Republic. He also continued a recent trend of dominant closers at Palm Beach. Samuel, a reed-thin reliever, has one of the true power arms in the organization, and one opposing manager last season called his stuff unhittable. He throws consistently from 94-96 mph, and has regularly touched 98 in save situations. He sweetens that pep with a slider that he can throw from 85-90 mph. He rarely throws anything soft because he hasn't needed to at the lower levels. Samuel finished 48 games for Palm Beach last year and ended up with more than twice as many strikeouts as hits allowed. He also had more walks than hits, however. His wildness is intimidating in the lower levels, but control will be the biggest hurdle for him to overcome as he tries to rise through the system. He complicates matters by sometimes allowing his mechanics to fall apart, which makes pitches drift up in the zone. Samuel will inherit the closing job in Springfield, but easily could pitch at multiple levels again in 2009. If his control improves, he will ascend quickly.

Minor League Top Prospects

In a league with several dominant relievers, Ceda and Samuel stood out because of their power stuff. Like Ceda, Samuel worked in the high 90s with his fastball, sitting between 94-96 mph and touching 98. He complemented his heater with a 85-90 mph slider with excellent tilt. Samuel throws from a lower arm angle than Ceda, generating life on his fastball from a three-quarters delivery. He also leaves balls up in the zone when he loses his release point and starts dropping down lower. He kept hitters off balance with his power stuff, and also because his control wasn't refined enough for them to be sure the next pitch wouldn't be coming at their head. Control is the only thing keeping Samuel from rocketing through the Cardinals system. His stuff was generally unhittable--Vero Beach pitching coach R.C. Lichtenstein likened it to Jose Valverde's--but patient hitters found they could work him for walks.