David Rollins should be an important part of the Lansing Lugnuts' rotation this season.

A 24th-round pick by the Blue Jays in last year’s draft and ranked No. 50 on our top 50 prospects list, Rollins signed quickly and put up good numbers in stints with rookie-level Bluefield and short season-A Vancouver in 2011. He was considered one of Toronto’s biggest steals in the 2011 draft, and after watching him pitch last night, it’s easy to see why.

After issuing a four-pitch walk to open the game, Rollins settled down and dominated the South Bend Silver Hawks for 4 and 1/3 innings. Throwing pitches similar in location to his first four, the 22-year-old induced a groundout and flyout in the first inning before getting a swinging strikeout on a high, low-90′s fastball.

Needing just eight pitches to retire the side in the top of the second inning, Rollins benefited from a double play ball that erased a leadoff single before striking out South Bend first baseman Bobby Stone on four pitches. After taking the first pitch for strike one, Stone, a left-handed batter, whiffed on a nasty changeup and took a high fastball for ball one before swinging right over the top of another changeup low and inside for strike three.

If he’s ever behind in the count, Rollins becomes more aggressive and goes right after the hitter, which is something I noticed after he missed high for ball one against Silver Hawks leadoff man Fidel Pena in the top of the third. After getting a swinging strike and three foul balls, not to mention firing a tough-to-lay-off slider low and inside for a ball, Rollins went back to his changeup for his third swinging strikeout of the night. After fouling off pitches to stay alive in a 1-2 count, South Bend shortstop Nick Gallego legged out an infield single in the next at-bat, which gave me the opportunity to pay closer attention to how Rollins pitches out of the stretch and how he works with a runner on base.

After throwing to first to check Gallego with the count 1-1, Rollins seemed to ignore him after that and focused solely on retiring Ender Inciarte at the plate. His delivery also seemed to imply that, as it was no different or quicker with a runner on than when the bases were empty — easy for baserunners to time. After Inciarte fouled off two pitches, Rollins used his changeup once again to register another swinging strikeout and strand the runner.

Rollins fell behind 3-0 to the next batter, Silver Hawks left fielder Tom Belza, and battled back to a full count with a pair of strikes low and inside, but Belza managed to rope a single to left field to put runners on first and second, prompting a mound visit from Lugnuts pitching coach Vince Horsman. Rollins escaped the inning unscathed, though, after fielding a comebacker to the mound and throwing to first for the final out.

Facing Helm once again in the top of the fourth, Rollins got ahead 1-2 on two swinging strikes, and after running the count full, he got Helm to ground out. Facing Canadian Marc Bourgeois next, Rollins threw strikes on the outside corner before getting him to chase a high fastball for the swinging strikeout. After retiring Bourgeois, a left-handed hitter, Rollins retired Roidany Aguila, a right-handed hitter, after that with yet another swinging strikeout.

Leading off the top of the fifth, Rollins worked himself into a full count on Bobby Stone before retiring him on a low and inside changeup for the second time. The next batter, Fidel Pena, also worked a full count, but managed to crank a single to center field. With a right-handed hitter on deck, Lugnuts manager John Tamargo headed to the mound, marking the end of Rollins’ night. Rollins finished with a line of 4.1 IP/4H/0R/1BB/7K.

In what was easily the most impressive start of his professional career, Rollins racked up a career-high seven strikeouts. Four were against left-handers and three against righties, and all seven came with the batter swinging. This was largely because he established his 92 mph fastball early and threw his changeup better than he ever has before. He worked inside and outside, high and low, regardless of a batter’s handedness, and mixed in a few sliders as well after not throwing a single one in his previous start.

What’s special and unique about Rollins, though, is the fast pace at which he operates on the mound. Keeping hitters guessing and on their toes, there were multiple times where I’d finish writing a quick note about one of his pitches and look up to see him already in his windup on the next. Consider him the anti-Josh Beckett.

I discussed Rollins’ fast pace with him after the game, where he also talked about his nasty changeup, researching the opposing lineup and pitching in a star-studded rotation. I’ve embedded the audio below:

-JM

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No. 32: Sean Patrick Nolin

Starting Pitcher / 22 years old / 6′5″ 235 lbs

Born: December 26, 1989 in Seaford, New York

Bats: Left    Throws: Left

High School: Seaford (Seaford, NY)

College: San Jacinto JC (Houston, TX)

Acquired: Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 6th round (186th overall) of the 2010 Amateur Draft, signed on July 23, 2010.

Pre-2011 Rank: N/A

Quick Facts:

• Learned to throw a curveball as his first off-speed pitch
• Was always a pitcher, but dabbled with first base and the outfield in high school
• Grew up a Yankees fan, though his father was a Mets fan
• Played on the same college teams as 2011 Blue Jays draft pick David Rollins
• Majored in General Studies
• Was in his apartment at school in Houston when he discovered that he was drafted by the Blue Jays
• Helped new teammate Justin Nicolino get acclimated to Midwest League hitters

Career stats:

Lansing Lugnuts team ranking (min. 3 GS):

• 1st in strikeouts (113)
• T-1st in walks (31)
• T-2nd in starts (21) and home runs allowed (9)
• 3rd in innings pitched (108.1) and earned runs (42)
• 4th in ERA (3.49), hits (102) and WHIP (1.23)

Extra Information and previous experience:

Growing up in Seaford, New York and the Long Island area, Nolin attended a pre-draft showcase in 2008 when he was in high school and impressed an onlooker from Laar University so much that he was referred to San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas. That year, he was drafted by the Brewers in the 50th round but decided to, understandably, go to school at San Jacinto instead in an effort to boost his draft stock.

As a freshman in 2009, Nolin went 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA in 46 1/3 innings, striking out 56 and walking 25. He ended up getting drafted once again that year, this time by the Mariners in the 48th round, but again did not sign and returned for another college season.

It turned out to be a great move, as Nolin went 13-0 with 84 strikeouts and a tidy 1.98 ERA as a sophomore en route to being named to the NJCAA All-Region XIV team. In the 2010 draft, the Blue Jays felt that they had seen enough from the left-hander and selected him in the sixth round with the 186th-overall pick. Growing up a Yankees fan and following the AL East closely as a teenager, Nolin knew all about the Blue Jays.

After pitching over 100 innings that year, Nolin decided to use the signing period as an opportunity to take a break and let his body recover. When he made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Jays at the end of July, he fanned four hitters and allowed one hit in two scoreless frames. The outing was good enough to earn him a promotion to the Jays’ former short-season A affiliate, the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League.

There, Nolin made six starts with mixed results. While he did manage to rack up 22 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings (10.2 K/9), he also gave up 25 hits (11.6 H/9) and nine walks while limping to a 6.05 ERA. His results were likely attributed to fatigue after a busy college season, but it was also noted that he was out of shape and could benefit from improving in that regard. At that time (August 2010), he had spotty command of a 84-88 mph fastball, a decent feel for a high-70′s changeup and a curveball that needed a lot of work.

Over one year later, a lot has changed.

After working extremely hard over the 2010-11 offseason to get in shape, a very slimmed-down Nolin reported to spring training almost as practically a new pitcher. Having been more than stretched out in his draft year, he reported to Lansing in April for full-season ball and, after making a couple of relief appearances that month, he eventually became a full-time member of the Lugnuts’ starting rotation. He reaped the positive effects of his improved physique, which made his pitches crisper overall and even added a few ticks to his fastball that topped out at 94 but was routinely in the 89-91 mph range.

Stats-wise, Nolin’s 2011 season was certainly a success. In 25 games (21 starts), he fashioned a 3.49 ERA/3.16 FIP to go along with a team-high 113 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings. He cut down his walk rate, limited opposing hitters to a .681 OPS, kept runners in check with his impressive pickoff move and managed a 6.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio against left-handed hitters.

Like all pitchers at his level, though, Nolin has some things to work on as well. Although he has an intimidating look on the mound, he’s not a power pitcher at all–consistently hitting high 80′s/low-90′s on the radar gun–but doesn’t make up for it with his command, at least for now. His four-seam grip changeup is his best off-speed pitch, but it still has a ways to go to consistently be even a major-league average pitch. His curveball is still considered a work in progress and he added a slider this year while toying with a cut version of his fastball, but none of the offerings are considered average pitches yet.

Expected 2012 team: Dunedin Blue Jays (A-Advanced)

Ultimate ceiling if he puts it all together: No. 5 starter

Seeing Nolin in spring training this year, the first word that comes to mind is big. He towers over his teammates and it’s easy to see why he’s able to throw the ball on a great downhill plane. Command struggles with his off-speed repertoire and some bouts of inconsistency are what he’ll look to work on while with Dunedin this season but, as a southpaw, even if he’s able to be more consistent with his changeup and develop it into a more reliable weapon, he could have success with a great complement to his fastball.

After flying under the radar last year, Nolin certainly made a name for himself in 2011. He has some work to do in 2012, but given how much he work he did one offseason ago, there’s reason to think that he’ll continue to improve.

-JM

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