The first-rounder dominated in his 2012 debut. How fast can he move up?

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Wacha spelled backwards is "Ahcaw" which means "longest and straightest spear thrower" in Indian...Western Cherokee to be specific. I would like to know if ever in the storied history of this game has a team had four potential Ace starting pitchers poised within a year of each other to break upon the scene(ML)? For those who think Wacha is still 2-3 years away, you better think again. Now we all know that all 4 are not going to end up being #1 type ML hurlers. The odds of Wacha, Rosenthal, Martinez and Miller all filling this bill are astronomical. But if two of these heralded young hurlers attain this status, the Cardinal rotation is going to be in pretty fair shape for years to come. My money is on Wacha and Rosenthal.

I agree Pugs, perhaps the A's did in the late 90's as Hudson made his rookie year debut in '99 as they drafted Mulder 2nd overall in '98 and Zito 9th overall in '99 and they both made their rookie debuts in the year 2000. That year they had Jesus Colome too, who was rated just behind Zito in BA's top 100 prospect lists.  Interestingly, that was also the same year Rich Harden was drafted as well, marking the 5th "ace" level prospect.

If by some slim chance the Cards decide to/can open with:

Wainwright, Carpenter, Lynn, Garcia, and Westbrook in the rotation

and

Motte, Boggs, Mujica, Choate, Rzepczynski, Kelly, and Salas in the bullpen

seeing a Memphis rotation at some point in 2013 of:

Miller, Rosenthal, Martinez, Wacha, and Maness/Gast/Siegrist/Swagerty would be interesting to say the least.

pugsleyaddams wrote: Wacha spelled backwards is "Ahcaw" which means "longest and straightest spear thrower" in Indian...Western Cherokee to be specific. I would like to know if ever in the storied history of this game has a team had four potential Ace starting pitchers poised within a year of each other to break upon the scene(ML)? For those who think Wacha is still 2-3 years away, you better think again. Now we all know that all 4 are not going to end up being #1 type ML hurlers. The odds of Wacha, Rosenthal, Martinez and Miller all filling this bill are astronomical. But if two of these heralded young hurlers attain this status, the Cardinal rotation is going to be in pretty fair shape for years to come. My money is on Wacha and Rosenthal.

Based on previous player ratings on this board, I would suspect that if the Cardinals take pitchers, particularly college pitchers, with their 2013 first-round pick (#20 overall) and with their first-round supplemental pick (Lohse #?) there is a good chance both of these pitchers will be ranked as an organization top-ten player. If STL drafts high-school pitchers, it may ease or spreadout our possible
log-jam of pitching prospects.  If they sign the Cuban SS mentioned on another thread, perhaps they go for the best pitchers available.  Nice problem to have....too many good pitching prospects!

However brief, Wacha arguably had the most dominating debut of any #1 Cardinal draft choice ever. Rick Ankiel was probably the closest.

I'm not as high on Wacha as Carioca but I like him a lot. Saw most of his AA outings on the web and he was just untouchable. He has good command and supposedly a major league ready change. Remember Trevor Hoffman got along just fine with a average fastball and his devastating change.

Wong, Wacha, Taveras and Adams along with Miller and Rosenthan could really force the Cardinals to change their plan for the 2013 season with dominating performances in spring training.

SoonerinNC wrote: However brief, Wacha arguably had the most dominating debut of any #1 Cardinal draft choice ever. Rick Ankiel was probably the closest.

I'm not as high on Wacha as Carioca but I like him a lot. Saw most of his AA outings on the web and he was just untouchable. He has good command and supposedly a major league ready change. Remember Trevor Hoffman got along just fine with a average fastball and his devastating change.

Wong, Wacha, Taveras and Adams along with Miller and Rosenthan could really force the Cardinals to change their plan for the 2013 season with dominating performances in spring training.

Wacha also displayed a much improved curve-ball in his brief pro innings showed tighter break and 12-6 action and the scouts I've talked to say it's a major league plus pitch now. If Wacha has three plus pitches we got a steal in the draft.

Looking forward to seeing Wacha actually start next year his stuff might be ready but needs to build up his workload as a starting pitcher. I'll agree Wacha arguably had the most dominate debut of any #1 Cardinals draft choice.