In Daniel Hudson’s first start, White Sox fans saw plenty to be excited about. The 22-year-old got the loss, but only allowed one earned over five. More on his stuff from South Side Sox:
White Sox Lose Game, Gain Confidence in Pitching Prospect
He attacked the zone — and lost them when he got a bit too fine with his 2-strike pitches. That was my main takeaway from this game. Hudson knows how to throw quality strikes, on the corners, in all counts. […]
He was trying to make the hitters chase out of the zone after he got ahead in the count, and the Twins weren’t biting when they had men on base. He’ll have to make a small adjustment when/if all teams take a similar approach, but it seems to me that he’s got the command to make that adjustment fairly swiftly.
As for his repertoire, we saw the addition of a curveball tonight. And although he generally grabbed strikes with the pitch (including one backwards K) it was anything but inspiring. He has to throw it from a little bit higher arm slot than his usual slingy, 3/4ths delivery in order to stay on top of it. This makes it very easy to pick up simply by watching his motion. That being said, Hudson’s other offerings allow for plenty of projection.
Hudson’s slider isn’t quite there yet either. I called it more of a back-up slider in his first couple relief outings, the type of pitch that can go a LONG way if he puts it in the wrong spot. […]
Hudson’s changeup looks great on TV, but hasn’t produced the swing-and-misses you’d expect as a surprising number of hitters have laid off of changes that start at the very bottom of the zone and drop out of the zone. I’d almost be willing to say he needs to get his changeup up a bit. […]
When Hudson finds that third pitch, when he figures out where to put that change in a 2-strike count, he’s gonna be good.
That’s not an if either, it’s when.
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