Tennessee Smokies manager Buddy Bailey offered insight about two of the more notable pitchers on Tennessee’s disabled list – Trey McNutt and Austin Kirk – Wednesday evening.
The Smokies’ skipper said during his postgame press conference that right-handed pitcher and Cubs prospect Trey McNutt – who has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury since June 28 – ran into a roadblock after tossing a scoreless inning and allowing three hits while striking out one in his second appearance with the AZL Cubs.
“McNutt was getting real close,” Bailey said, “and then in just the last day or two something showed back up but in a different spot.”
The Cubs No. 24 rated prospect was 2-5 on the season with a 4.60 ERA while striking out 23 batters and walking 14.
The immediate future looks more promising for Kirk, who threw to live batters for the first time this afternoon since hitting the DL on July 27. Bailey revealed the Cubs organizations’ desire to change Kirk’s arm delivery to a three-quarters delivery last night.
“Hopefully he can throw strikes cause at times I’ve seen him throw a ‘pen and he’s picked up a lot of movement and it’s really like the old fashioned Tommy Johns or Charlie Leibrandts,” Bailey said. “[It’s] kind of a dead-fish fastball and that just gets there and it looks like a late right-handed slider because of the movement going down and away.”
“The big thing is going to be if he can master it and command the ball,” Bailey said. “It should help him.”
Kirk was not available for immediate comment after Thursday afternoon’s session.
To stay current with all the latest news, follow Smokies on Radio on Twitter and like the Smokies on Radio Facebook page. Nick Roark is the Senior Beat Writer for the Smokies Radio Network. You can follow him on Twitter here: NickRoark4.
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[…] McNutt has been on the DL with an undisclosed injury since June 28 and suffered a setback in his rehab according to a report from Smokies Radio. Smokies’ manager Buddy Bailey said that McNutt was close to returning “and then in just the […]