First-Hand Reports: Jandel Gustave

Jandel Gustave throws a pitch in Lansing, Michigan on April 9, 2014. Mandatory Credit: Jay Blue

I’m coming to you live from Central Michigan where I’m taking in a few Midwest League games. The first first-hand report that I’m filing is about a little known pitcher named Jandel Gustave. Gustave is a 21-year-old Dominican who has shown some tantalizing stuff since signing with the Houston Astros in 2010. Known for his big fastball, the 6-foot-2, 160 pound righty has struggled with his control but seems to be righting the ship in that regard into 2013.

Gustave was hit hard and only lasted two and two-thirds innings in his second appearance of the year (his first start) but, through five and two-thirds innings in 2014, he hasn’t walked a man (but has hit two batters). The lack of walks shows that Gustave has developed better control but he’s not showing nearly as much command within the strike zone. The fact that some good young hitters have been lighting him up shows that he needs to locate better down in the zone.

So what gets people so excited about Gustave? Well, a 98-mph fastball, to start. While the stadium radar gun in Lansing in notoriously inaccurate, pitchers (on both teams) charting pitches registered 98 mph several times on their radar guns and Gustave was sitting comfortably in the 95-97 mph range. Unfortunately, the fastball was up in the zone frequently and was pretty straight. D.J. Davis, a 19-year-old center fielder for the Lansing Lugnuts, demonstrated the hittability of Gustave’s fastball by crushing a 97-mph offering off the wall in dead center field. Needless to say, Davis didn’t get very many fastballs the rest of the night.

Gustave, who is likely slated for a bullpen role as he moves up in the organization, pairs the fastball with a solid slider that he throws around 87 mph that has some nice depth and sharpness. He used the slider to get called third strikes on two Lugnuts hitters in the first inning of the game. He threw one curveball that hung quite a bit and he didn’t return to that pitch again.

Mechanically, Gustave can rush his delivery at times and has a lot of head movement that probably hinders his ability to locate his pitches well. He threw the slider to both sides of the plate, showing that he trusts the pitch a lot but the Lugnuts weren’t fooled after that first inning, waiting for fastballs up in the zone and putting good wood on the baseball.

While, so far, the numbers haven’t gone Gustave’s way, a power arm like his pretty rare and the ability to hurl a baseball at velocity approaching triple digits will get many peoples’ attention.