Ogando-Nation

Alexi Ogando (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.54 WHIP) has been a pleasant surprise since being thrust into the starter role for the Texas Rangers. A dominant setup man a year ago (2010 AL ERA leader), Ogando has shown ace stuff, securing the back-end of the Rangers rotation. Ogando was originally signed as a right fielder out of the Dominican Republic by Oakland, but was picked up through the Rule 5 draft and converted into a pitcher by the Texas Rangers.

Ogando has challenged hitters with a 97 MPH fastball, a decent slider which he can throw for strikes, and an underrated change-up. He sports a simple, but deceptive delivery that keeps hitters off-balance.

Alexi hides the ball throughout the entire delivery; behind his leg, body and then completely with his head. This gives the impression of an even faster heater because the ball is difficult to pickup before he releases the pitch.

Ogando is a strike throwing machine, who pitches to contact and rarely walks hitters. In his first two starts he has proven very efficient, completing 13.0 innings with only 169 pitches (13 pitches/inning).  Ogando is the first pitcher in the live-ball era to throw 13.0 scoreless innings over his first two career starts.

Alexi's pitching style raises a number of red flags. He is a fly ball pitcher in a home-run ballpark, and has low strikeout totals for a pitcher with his velocity and stuff. Ogando has the potential to increase his strikeouts and lower his homeruns if he learns to expand the strike zone and coax hitters to chase.

Ogando's change-up has developed into a plus pitch, but he does not trust throwing it. This is common with younger players because the effectiveness of the change is dependent on the pitcher's ability to "sell" the pitch as a fastball.

Alexi's change is the the best secondary compliment to his fastball because it appears like the fastball, but has good movement out of the zone and 8-10 MPH velocity difference from his heater. His change-up is a "swing-and-miss" pitch, which he can also throw for strikes. Over his first two starts he has only thrown the change 5% of the time, as opposed to 24% for the slider.

Alexi faces a challenging assignment in his next start against the powerful Yankee lineup in homerun-friendly Yankee stadium. Homeruns might be an issue, but Ogando has shown that he has the velocity, deception, and control to be an innings-eater and a very successful starting pitcher.