NEWSLETTER
I was pretty darn impressed by Duane Underwood, Jr. last night, making his big league debut on the road, in a huge stadium, against a very good team overall, but particularly one that has so many grinding-type hitters.
To manage that first inning, with so many foul balls and so many close pitches, get up to 41 pitches but not allow a run, and then turn the page from there and throw three more solid innings? Hopefully that’s the kind of experience that sticks with him as he goes forward. If you can do what he did last night – emotionally and mentally, I mean – you can play at the big league level.
And I’ll tell you, he’s got the pitches to play, too.
There are some young pitchers whom you can watch, and know that, even if they work with plus command, they simply don’t have the arsenal and stuff to make it work as a big league starting pitcher. But you watch Underwood, and you can *see* the big league pitches. That four-seamer can get up to 96 mph with good life, and, although he didn’t get whiffs with it last night, it can absolutely be a weak contact pitch. The two-seamer/sinker has great movement, and presents another great weak contact opportunity if he can keep it down. The curveball is a beauty, and if he can comfortably vary the level up and down with it, hitters will struggle. The changeup has great separation from the fastball and very nice movement, he just didn’t locate it very well last night.
The scouting report really held on Underwood: you can absolutely see a big league starter there, and command is going to be what separates him from being an almost-there guy to a breakout starter. It’s the tale for so many young pitchers, but the Cubs haven’t had many coming up with a full starter’s tool kit like the 23-year-old Underwood in recent years.
And now Underwood has the benefit of knowing he can compete at the big league level. Used properly, that can really help a young player head back to the minor leagues and attack the things he still needs to work on.
You can expect Underwood to now head back to the rotation at Iowa, continue developing, and stand ready the next time the Cubs need a fill-in starter and his turn in the rotation is coming up. It’ll be interesting to see if he joins the team in September, given that he’ll have pitched a full season at Iowa at that point, and it’s not certain whether the Cubs will want him working out of the bullpen.
I would say I hope we see him again before then, because I thought he was enjoyable to watch, but that would mean some bad things have happened in the big league rotation, so … maybe I hope we see Underwood in September, and then competing for a big league job next Spring.
More from and about Underwood’s debut:
