Michael Pineda of the Seattle Mariners and the 10 Hardest Throwing Youngsters

Michael Pineda is young and he throws hard, but how does he stack up against similar pitchers of the past 10 years?

Dave Cameron from the U.S.S Mariner and FanGraphs websites recently explored the idea of the Seattle Mariners trading their prized 22-year-old Michael Pineda.

His idea collided head on with lots of angry readers, which he expected, I'm sure. The fans have legitimate reasons to be upset, but Cameron also makes some good points such as this one:

"If you look at the best pitching performances from players at age 22 over the last decade, you see names like Mark Prior, Scott Kazmir, Rich Harden, Dontrelle Willis, Oliver Perez and Anibal Sanchez. All of these guys experienced significant problems with injuries and/or a loss of velocity after bursting onto the scene as dominant young hurlers."

He goes on to to state there are exceptions, of course, like Felix Hernandez.

This all made me wonder, though, how similar is Michael Pineda to some of these busts? Or will Pineda be an exception.

All pitch data comes from fangraphs.com  

Who's Included

I searched for players who, during their rookie campaign, were 22 years of age or younger, pitched at least 110 innings and threw a hard fastball.

FanGraphs only has pitch info dating back to 2002, so that's as far as my search was able to go.

The list is in order of the pitcher's velocity during his rookie season, from highest to lowest.

So essentially what you are looking at is the 10 hardest throwing 22-and-under-year-olds from the last nine years. 

Michael Pineda

Yup, Michael Pineda actually throws harder as a 22-year-old than anyone else on this list did.

So far, through 113 innings, Pineda has thrown his fastball 64 percent of time at an average velocity of 95 MPH.

It has certainly worked out for him so far, but if Pineda wants to continue to have success, like some of the other guys on this list, he will probably need to develop another pitch that he can go to.

Bottom line is, he can't continue throwing this hard if he wants his arm to stay connected to his body.  

Francisco Liriano

As a 22-year-old, Francisco Liriano set the league on fire with a 12-3 record to go along with a 2.16 ERA and 144 strikeouts in just 121 innings.

His average fastball was 94.7 MPH. 

He then underwent Tommy John surgery before the next season, and his velocity was down to about 91 MPH when he returned. 

All-in-all, Liriano has never looked the same since that surgery.

Do you think the Twins would have liked to trade him during that rookie campaign? Hindsight is a beautiful thing.  

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw entered the league as a ripe 20-year-old. 

Over his short four-year career, Kershaw has thrown 70 percent fastballs at an average of 93.3 MPH. This youngster hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, but he may need to start working some other pitches into his arsenal more often.

He is, so far however, a good comparison to Michael Pineda for Mariner fans.  

Mark Prior

Mark Prior came into the league as a 21-year-old and had his breakout season as a 22-year-old. He was a bust by the time he was a 23-year-old.

Over Prior's five seasons, his average fastball velocity dropped from 93.8 MPH to 91.4 MPH. He never really developed another pitch, either, as he constantly threw his fastball about 70 percent of the time. 

Still though, it wasn't really Prior's arm that fell off, but his talent level. 

Johnny Cueto

As a 22-year-old rookie, Johnny Cueto tossed 174 innings while his fastball averaged 93.4 MPH. Cueto, like Pineda, pretty much relied on just two pitches during his rookie campaign: a fastball and a slider.

Cueto is now in his fourth season, and he has only gotten better since that rookie season. His fastball's velocity has stayed steady, partly because he has had to throw it less after adding both a cutter and a curveball to his arsenal.  

When looking at the use of a fastball and slider during his rookie season, Cueto might compare to Pineda the strongest out of anyone on this list. That should be a good sign for Mariner fans. 

Ervin Santana

Ervin Santana entered the league as a 22-year-old rookie throwing an average fastball of 93.4 MPH.

While Santana's stats have been consistently inconsistent throughout his career, he has actually maintained his high velocity while still throwing the fastball just as much, for over six years. 

While he hasn't completely lived up to potential, Santana is proof that you can throw hard for a long time. 

Matt Cain

Matt Cain entered the majors as a 20-year-old, and threw an astounding 430 innings before his 23rd birthday.

On top of that, Cain went to his fastball a lot (72 percent, 93.4 MPH) during his rookie campaign. It should be seen as a blessing for the Giants that he has been able to constantly go 200+ innings.

Throughout the years, of course, Cain has seen both the use and velocity of his fastball decrease as he has thrown more changeups (18.4 percent in 2011, up from 5.8 percent his rookie year). 

Brett Anderson

Mariners fans won't be too excited to see this guy on the list, as it was just announced that Brett Anderson would undergo Tommy John surgery. 

Anderson makes the list because he entered the league as a 21-year-old, and proceeded to throw a fastball with a velocity of 92.6 MPH. He, unlike Pineda however, had more of a curveball and changeup in his arsenal, but to no avail.

Anderson was already seeing the velocity drop this year (two years after his rookie campaign). It's expected that he will be out until 2013, and he will most likely never have the same zip on his fastball. 

Scott Kazmir

In 2005, Scott Kazmir, as a 21-year-old, threw 186 innings with an average velocity on his fastball of 92.6 MPH.

In 2009, he threw it just as much, but at a velocity of 91.1.

In 2010, he threw it more, at a velocity of 90.5.

This season, before being sent to the DL after just two innings, he threw at a velocity of 86.5.

Yikes. Not a good sign. Kazmir never put up better numbers than what he did as a 22-year-old.  

Jeremy Bonderman

Like Cain and Kershaw, Jeremy Bonderman was brought to the league as a 20-year-old, and managed to toss his 535th inning as a 22-year-old. During those first three seasons, Bonderman's fastball averaged 93 MPH.

Over the years, Bonderman relied even more on his fastball, even though he lost a bit of a velocity.

Bonderman missed time in 2008 and 2009 due to shoulder injuries, and his velocity was down to 89 MPH in 2010.

Unable to develop another pitch, Bonderman wasn't signed in 2011.

Derek Holland

As a 22-year-old, Derek Holland was throwing his fastball over 70 percent of the time at an average speed of 92.5 MPH.

After an injury sidelined him for most of 2009, Holland has actually increased his velocity this year, upping his fastball to 93.6.

Holland is still young, so the jury is definitely still out on him, but one arm injury in three years isn't promising for this flame-thrower.