DUKE WELKER | RIGHT HANDED PITCHER |
 | Born: February 10, 1986 Height: 6′ 7″ Weight: 220 Bats: Left Throws: Right Drafted: 2nd Round, 68th Overall, 2007 How Acquired: Draft College: University of Arkansas Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
| Welker was described by MLB.com as a “steady” starter for Arkansas. Previously he played JC ball at Seminole State in Oklahoma. When drafted, he had an above average, low-90s fastball that he threw on a good downward plane, average command, and a barely average slider. MLB.com stated that he could be a 4th/5th starter if he developed a third pitch. He missed much of his senior year in HS and his freshman year at Seminole State due to back problems and shoulder surgery, respectively. He followed in the Pirates’ traditions, under prior management, of overdrafts in round 2 and of drafting injury risks. After having almost no success as a starter, he moved to the bullpen and showed dramatically improved stuff, but he’s had to struggle with control issues. He’s an extreme groundball pitcher, with groundout to air out ratios generally well over 2-to-1. 2007 Pitched well in seven starts for State College. He had to be shut down in mid-August, though, due to forearm tightness. 2008 Welker took big step backward at Hickory. Expected to be the team’s top starter, he struggled all year after missing part of April with a turned ankle. Opponents batted .307 against him and he had a very low K rate. His season came completely unglued in August, when he logged a 10.04 ERA and more walks than Ks. His velocity, and stuff generally, was down from when he was drafted. 2009 Returned to low A and opened in the rotation, but eventually got demoted to the bullpen. The move didn’t help: his ERA was 6.21 as a reliever and 5.59 as a starter. His fastball rebounded to the low-90s and he didn’t get hit as hard as in 2008, with a .253 opponents’ average, but he had significant control problems while fanning only 6.1. He lost all 11 of his decisions, leaving him with a two-year W/L record in low A of 4-24. 2010 In one of the more surprising developments of the year, Welker returned to West Virginia in 2010 as a full-time reliever and suddenly started throwing 96-98 mph. He had major control problems, but he fanned over a batter an inning and opponents hit only .198 against him. He got similar results after a mid-season promotion to Bradenton, with a .182 opponents’ average and very high walk rate, but not such a high K rate. He was deadly against right-handed batters, who hit only .107 against him on the season. Left-handed batters hit .313, with ten walks and just one strikeout. 2011 Welker started off pretty much the same at Bradenton, struggling to throw strikes. After walking 16 in his first 19.2 IP, though, he walked just nine in his next 32.1, until the Pirates promoted him to Altoona in mid-August. In June and July, Welker had a WHIP of 0.82. Opponents hit .186 against him in high A, but his K rate was just decent. In eight games at Altoona, Welker had one disastrous outing, allowing five earned runs in one inning. He pitched well otherwise, allowing just five hits and a walk in nine innings in his other seven outings. He fanned nine in ten total innings in AA. At the end of the season, he wasn’t throwing as hard as in 2010, but was still sitting at 94-96 and keeping the fastball low, and was throwing a slider that was effective at times. He had no platoon split on the season as a whole. The Pirates may have promoted Welker to Altoona to try to help in evaluating whether to add him to the 40-man roster, as he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft for the second time. He has a good combination of inducing a lot of grounders and getting some swings and misses, although an improved slider would help in the latter area. The Pirates evidently thought his stuff gave him a significant ceiling, as they added him to the roster in November. He’ll return to Altoona in 2012. |
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| Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MiLB.com
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