After being undrafted out of high school, Hirsh worked hard at Cal Lutheran earning All-Conference honors. He improved his pitching and was drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft by the Houston Astros. After being traded to Colorado, Hirsh is set to make the starting rotation as a Rockie and begin his rookie campaign at Coors Field.
Hirsh’s development in the minor leagues went pretty much as expected for his first two campaigns. Low-A and High-A proved to be suitable testing ground for the 6-foot-8 pitcher. He was good, but not great. His control began to show signs of improvement and many people began to see he was looking like a legitimate prospect.
Then, in 2005, Hirsh blossomed into everything that is expected of a tall flamethrower. In Double-A he cut down on his walks, increased his strikeouts, gave up less hits and showed a viable changeup. He carried that success into 2006 and as a 24-year-old was named Pacific Coast Pitcher of the Year.
Stuff
Hirsh had one of the most refined repertoire’s in Triple-A in 2006. He has a plus fastball and plus slider. He’ll throw a 4-seam fastball in the 94-96 mph range and can touch 97-98. He relies on a 2-seam fastball in the 92-93 range with good movement to make batters dribble gounders to his infielders. His slider sits in the mid-80s and breaks hard. He throws a moderate changeup in the low 80s.
Strengths
Hirsh is able to work to all quadrants of the plate effectively with all his pitches. He does a great job of keeping all of his pitches down in the zone but also has the ability to effectively pitch up. While he is generally more effective on the outside half, Hirsh is not afraid to throw inside.
Hirsh is relentless when it comes to pitching in the strike zone. He’s a crafty pitcher who really comes after hitters. By pounding the zone, he forces hitters to hit his best stuff and that’s something that hitters find very difficult to do.
With a big frame, Hirsh is capable of eating up innings. He has already shown durability by logging over 170.0 innings in 2005 and 2006. Expect 200+ innings out of Hirsh in the major leagues.
Hirsh has some great pitches to work with. His 4-seamer and 2-seamer are complimented well by his slider. He has developed these pitches well and they are major league ready. Two plus pitches is usually enough to warrant a spot in a major league rotation. The only question with Hirsh is: Will he develop the changeup and become a frontline guy?
Perhaps the greatest asset any pitcher can have is an understanding of their place in the game. Hirsh seems to know exactly what he’s trying to do with every batter and what his next move is. He is comfortable pitching anywhere he needs to and can get by without dominant stuff.
Weaknesses
Hirsh still struggles with the changeup. It is definitely improved but it is not to the level it needs to be for him to effectively become the frontline starter he is often projected to become. Most scouts and pitching coaches will agree that the changeup is vital to any major league pitcher, and especially one with good velocity on his fastball.
His control was the biggest issue coming into the professional ranks but he has improved that but he still needs work. He tends to suffer control lapses and is prone to giving up walks in bunches. Along with that comes a tendency to allow extra base hits in groups. If he can refine his control a bit, he’ll really make a push at becoming a No. 2 starter.
2007 Outlook
Hirsh will be in the starting rotation in Colorado in 2007. As a durable pitcher with a good array of pitches, Hirsh will be given chances to move up in the rotation throughout his career. He will likely given a chance to compete for Colorado’s No. 4 spot along with Taylor Buchholz and pitch behind Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook and Byung-Hyun Kim.
Koby Schellenger can be reached at koby.schellenger@gmail.com.