Pat Egan, relief pitcher

Where does he stand?

It’s amazing. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a pitcher who was  so effective at AA be so ineffective at AAA. Egan, a tall (6’7″) right-hander who doesn’t throw hard, pitched the first half of 2010 at Bowie and was great; so he got promoted to Norfolk and was terrible. He started the 2011 season at Norfolk and was terrible, so he got demoted to Bowie and pitched great. Overall, he’s pitched 85 innings at Bowie with a 2.33 ERA, 64 hits allowed, and a 20-58 walk-to-strikeout ratio; he’s pitched 75 2/3 innings at Norfolk with a 5.11 ERA, 110 hits allowed, and a 25-39 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

He’s certainly not as good as his AA numbers, nor probably not as bad as his AAA numbers. Egan is a pitch-to-contact type, and it’s possible that AAA betters are substantially better at making solid contact than AA batters. Norfolk hasn’t had a really strong infield defense, and maybe Egan’s been more adversely affected by that than other pitchers.

Whatever the reason, on June 28, 2010, Pat Egan was a 25-year-old pitcher who had established himself in AA and was looking to conquer AAA. Today, Pat Egan is a 27-year-old pitcher who has established himself in AA, and has failed miserably in AAA. Egan’s prospects for a baseball career have dimmed considerably. To continue his career, he’s got to start 2012 in AAA and pitch well in AAA.