Lance Broadway Stats & Scouting Report

IP	55
ERA	5.236
WHIP	1.6
BB/9	4.091
SO/9	6.382

Full name Lance Daniel Broadway
Born 08/20/1983 in Dallas, TX
Profile Ht.: 6'3" / Wt.: 195 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Texas Christian
Debut 09/07/2007
Drafted in the 1st round (15th overall) by the Chicago White Sox in 2005 (signed for $1,570,000).

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Broadway spent the first two years of his college career at Dallas Baptist, where he spun a pair of no-hitters and was part of two National Christian College Athletic Association championship teams. He transferred to Texas Christian after earning top-prospect honors in the Northwoods League last summer, and has put together a superlative season. Broadway was tied for the NCAA Division I lead in wins (12) and ranked among the leaders in ERA (1.94), strikeouts (125) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.1). He succeeds more with polish than overwhelming stuff. His fastball is just average, but he has a plus curveball that he can locate in and out of the strike zone. His delivery and command are solid, and his makeup is a huge asset. He's developing a changeup and is gaining more confidence in the pitch. He has a strong, lean frame and there may be a little more velocity in him. The statistics-oriented Red Sox are believed to be targeting Broadway with one of their three supplemental first-round picks.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Seeing apparently isn't believing when it comes to the White Sox and Broadway. He has made two big league starts and beat the Royals in both of them, allowing two runs in 111⁄3 innings. Chicago paid him $1.57 million as the 15th overall pick in the 2005 draft--taking him ahead of such players as Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Garza--but seems more likely to use Broadway as trade bait than to give him a chance at making the big league rotation. Broadway hasn't pitched nearly as well as a Triple-A starter (19-16, 4.55) or big league reliever (6.92 ERA in 13 innings), and he regressed after a fast start at Charlotte last year. He's a conditioning freak with a good feel for pitching, if not overwhelming stuff. He has to locate his fastball because it arrives at 88-91 mph, and he sometimes overthrows and loses his command. His curveball and changeup are his best pitches, and he also mixes in a cutter/slider. He doesn't appear to be in Chicago's 2009 plans, which means he'll spend a third season in Triple-A unless he gets traded.
Broadway never has blown away scouts with his stuff but he knows how to pitch. He went 15-1 as a junior at Texas Christian to pitch his way up to the 15th overall pick in the 2005 draft, and he won his first major league start last September by shutting out the Royals for six innings. He needed just 63 minor league starts to reach Chicago. Broadway can throw strikes with four pitches, including a plus changeup. He impressed manager Ozzie Guillen by getting strikeouts on 3-2 sliders against Kansas City, showing surprising confidence considering he hadn't started in almost a month. His curveball is also considered a plus pitch. He learned a cut fastball from pitching coach Don Cooper while spending most of September in the White Sox bullpen. He's a workout freak who has proven durable in his two full seasons as a pro. Broadway's fastball rarely gets above 90 mph, leaving him in trouble on the days when he can't command his other pitches. He was inconsistent throughout most of 2007, as his walk rate rose to 4.5 per nine innings in Triple-A, up from 2.3 in Double- A the year before. By trading Jon Garland, Chicago increased Broadway's chances of making its Opening Day rotation. He'll compete with Gavin Floyd, Gio Gonzalez and others for the No. 5 slot in the rotation. He doesn't have a high ceiling but can be a serviceable back-end starter.
Undrafted out of high school in Texas, Broadway started his college career at Dallas Baptist before transferring to Texas Christian and becoming an All-American in 2005. He spent his first full pro season at Double- A Birmingham before moving up for the International League playoffs. Broadway knows how to pitch. He pounds the strike zone with a collection of pitches, the best of which is a spike curveball that some scouts rate as a plus-plus offering. He sets up his curve with an 89-92 mph fastball. He has made progress with the arm speed on his changeup, making it more effective. He's a physical specimen who had no trouble adjusting to a pro workload. Because he has just an average fastball, Broadway has less margin for error. His mechanics got out of sync in midseason, and he got hit hard when he left heaters up in the strike zone. He'll need a more consistent changeup to get big league lefthanders out. Given their veteran rotation, Chicago has no need to rush Broadway. He'll almost certainly start 2007 in Triple-A and profiles as an innings-eating starter. General manager Kenny Williams isn't afraid to deal prospects, and the White Sox' pitching depth makes Broadway one of their best trade chips.
A product of Grand Prairie (Texas) High, which also produced big leaguers Kerry Wood and Kevin Walker, Broadway began his college career at Dallas Baptist before transferring to Texas Christian and earning All- America honors in 2005. He allowed just two earned runs in his last 48 innings, causing his draft stock to soar down the stretch, and tied for the NCAA Division I lead with 15 wins. The 15th overall pick in June, he signed for $1.57 million. Broadway's out pitch is a plus-plus curveball that he commands to both sides of the plate. It's a hard curve with a sharp, late break and he can throw it for strikes or bury it in the dirt as a chase pitch. He's a polished pitcher who locates his average fastball very well and understands how to get outs. While Broadway has an ideal pitcher's build, he's not overpowering and his fastball sits at 88-90 mph. His changeup is basically a show-me pitch, though it's improving and he's learning to believe in it. Broadway's polish should help him move rapidly. He went straight to high Class A, where he'll probably return to begin 2006.

Minor League Top Prospects

Broadway started his season as strong as anyone in league, going 3-1, 1.74 in April. But then his delivery fell out of whack for two months, and hitters feasted on fastballs left up in the strike zone. He eventually fixed his mechanics and got back on track. The best pitch in Broadway's arsenal is a plus-plus spike curveball, which he commands to any part of the plate and will throw in any count. His average 89-90 mph fastball lacks consistent life and flattens out late in games. He seldom used a changeup in college and needs to increase arm speed to make it an effective third pitch. "He's polished and he's a fast-track guy," a NL scout said. "Whether he's fast-tracked as a pen guy or a starter depends on that changeup. It shows flashes, but sometimes it's very easy for hitters to pick up what's coming."
Broadway finished the college season with a rush, and his draft stock didn't stop rising until the White Sox took him with the 15th overall selection. He was somewhat worn down after pitching 117 innings at Texas Christian, so Chicago monitored him closely and spread out his starts, giving him as many as nine days' rest. He wasn't quite the same pitcher who excelled in the spring. Though he showed good stuff, he lacked command at times, particularly with his fastball. He doesn't have an overpowering fastball, pitching at 88-91 mph, but he has excellent control of his plus-plus curveball. All three Warthogs pitchers on this list have above-average curves, but Broadway's has more velocity and a sharper break than those of Gonzalez and Ray Liotta. Broadway could add a little more velocity if he can add more weight to his 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame. His changeup is still developing and is average at best.