Links:

Interview with Jeff Locke
Jeff Locke 7/17/2009 Video Recap
Jeff Locke 8/14/2009 Video Recap
Jeff Locke 9/17/2009 Video Recap
Jeff Locke 7/31/2010 Video Recap

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2006
R:  4-3-0, 4.22 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 32 IP, 1.4 BB/9, 10.7 K/9

Had a solid debut in rookie ball.  Opponents hit .299 against him, but his walk and K rates were excellent.

2007
R+:  7-1-1, 2.66 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 61 IP, 1.2 BB/9 ,10.9 K/9 

In the advanced rookie Appalachian League, Locke was much harder to hit and his walk and K rates were even better.

2008
A:  5-12-0, 4.06 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 139.2 IP, 2.4 BB/9, 7.2 K/9

Locke wasn’t as dominant in full season ball, but he didn’t walk many and allowed only six HRs.

2009
A+ (Atl):  1-4-0, 5.52 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 45.2 IP, 5.1 BB/9, 8.5 K/9
A+ (Pgh):  4-4-0, 4.08 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 81.2 IP, 2.0 BB.9, 6.2 K/9 

Before the trade, Locke struggled with his mechanics, leading to control problems for the first time in his career.  After the trade, the struggles continued, as he had an ERA of 5.31 in June and July.  He started turning things around in his last July start and had an ERA of 2.58 from that point on.  The strong stretch began after one meltdown in which he failed to get out of first inning.  His walk rate dropped dramatically with Lynchburg as the Pirates got him to focus more on throwing strikes.  His K rate also dropped significantly, but was increasing again late in the year.

2010
A+:  9-3-0, 3.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 86.1 IP, 1.5 BB/9, 8.7 K/9
AA:  3-2-0, 3.59 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 57.2 IP, 1.9 BB/9, 8.7 K/9

Went back to high A and turned things around.  His walk and strikeout numbers were excellent, and his pitching overall was better than his ERA indicates.  He moved up to Altoona in mid-July and put up nearly identical numbers there.  He had two bad starts out of ten and pitched very well in all the others.

2011
AA:  7-8-0, 4.03 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 125 IP, 3.3 BB/9, 8.2 K/9
AAA:  1-2-0, 2.22 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 28.1 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 7.9 K/9
MLB:  0-3-0, 6.48 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 16.2 IP, 5.4 BB/9, 2.7 K/9 

The Pirates sent Locke to Altoona to start the season, partly due to their desire to have some veterans in the AAA rotation as insurance.  He’d been added to the 40-man roster in the off-season.  He struggled early, as his stuff seemed flat and his velocity was down in the mid- to upper-80s.  May was an especially bad month, as he had a 7.01 ERA and walked 16 in 25.2 IP.  He pitched much better after that, though, and moved up to Indianapolis in August.  He started five games there and pitched very well in most of them.  The Pirates brought him in September and added him to the rotation for four starts.  He struggled with his control and mostly pitched poorly, which is hardly surprising.  He may have been tiring, as his velocity declined in each start.

2012
AAA:  10-5-0, 2.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 141.2 IP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.3 K/9
MLB:  1-3-0, 5.50 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 34.1 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 8.9 K/9

Locke returned to AAA and had an outstanding season.  He improved throughout the season; after the AAA All-Star break, he had a 1.57 ERA and allowed just a .212 opponents’ average.  He had a significant platoon split on the season.  Left-handed batters hit only .197 against him with no HRs, while right-handers hit .257 with nine HRs.  Baseball America named him the International League’s 9th best prospect, although it was an extraordinarily weak season for that league, prospect-wise.  The Pirates brought Locke up in August for two relief appearances, then brought him back in September.  He spent the month in the rotation, making six starts.  He struggled in half and pitched well in the other half.  One very encouraging sign is that he had excellent walk and strikeout rates, and he didn’t get hammered; opponents hit 267/327/422 against him.  He tended to pitch well for several innings and then give up a big HR to somebody; he allowed six, better than one every six innings.  He did a far better job of throwing strikes than in his 2011 callup.  His fastball velocity was higher than it’s been at times, averaging over 90 mph in four of his six starts and 90.8 overall.  Both FIP and xFIP suggest he pitched better than his ERA, although it’s a small sample size.  Locke is not a groundball pitcher, so the longball could be a continuing problem for him.

One concern that some fans share about Locke is whether he’ll be another extremely hittable finesse lefty, like Zach Duke.  Locke’s K rates in the upper minors have been much higher than Duke’s, though.  Duke had K rates of 5.3 per nine innings in AAA and 5.7 in AA.  Locke’s rates have been 8.3 and 8.4, respectively, and there’s also his good K rate in his 2012 callup.  He’s not going to dominate, but he has the potential to be a good 4th starter.  With Francisco Liriano and Jeff Karstens starting the 2013 season on the disabled list, Locke competed with Kyle McPherson, Jonathan Sanchez and Jeanmar Gomez for the last two rotation spots.  He ended up getting one spot more by default than anything, because he didn’t have a great spring.  He could still get sent down once the veteran pitchers start getting healthy, assuming that happens.