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"- Daniel Palencia (RHP, CHC)
A relatively late IFA sign at age 20 out of Venezuela just prior to the pandemic by the Athletics, Palencia was moved almost immediately after his debut in '21 to the Cubs for Andrew Chafin (LHP, ARI) and has moved relatively quickly ever since. A deceptive 5'11" and 160 pounds the 23-year-old is athletic with massive arm strength. His bread-and-butter is a 98-mph FF that touches 102, features an elite -4.1 VAA, is super flat up in the zone and garners an 18.4% SwK. Many evaluators lay a true 80-grade on it and long term it should be among the upper echelon of all FF in the game. Palencia is sprinkling in a FT as well this year, though that's maybe the wrong term for his usage of it because it's his number one by usage (32.6%). It sits 97 and is probably flatter than it should be at -4.9 VAA but he deploys it primarily as a chase pitch (33.3 strike rate) with modest SwK (13.3%). Only his FC is in the same usage neighborhood (21.2%) ..."
What is FF? Some sort of fastball, but which?
FT?
FC?
VAA? Some sort of movement, but what exactly?
These are not in the glossary, so mystifying.
Same blurb also uses CU, CH and SL, but I've figured out long ago that those are curve, change and slider.
A relatively late IFA sign at age 20 out of Venezuela just prior to the pandemic by the Athletics, Palencia was moved almost immediately after his debut in '21 to the Cubs for Andrew Chafin (LHP, ARI) and has moved relatively quickly ever since. A deceptive 5'11" and 160 pounds the 23-year-old is athletic with massive arm strength. His bread-and-butter is a 98-mph FF that touches 102, features an elite -4.1 VAA, is super flat up in the zone and garners an 18.4% SwK. Many evaluators lay a true 80-grade on it and long term it should be among the upper echelon of all FF in the game. Palencia is sprinkling in a FT as well this year, though that's maybe the wrong term for his usage of it because it's his number one by usage (32.6%). It sits 97 and is probably flatter than it should be at -4.9 VAA but he deploys it primarily as a chase pitch (33.3 strike rate) with modest SwK (13.3%). Only his FC is in the same usage neighborhood (21.2%) ..."
What is FF? Some sort of fastball, but which?
FT?
FC?
VAA? Some sort of movement, but what exactly?
These are not in the glossary, so mystifying.
Same blurb also uses CU, CH and SL, but I've figured out long ago that those are curve, change and slider.
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