Armchair Evaluation – Washington Nationals 1st Round Pick Dane Dunning

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Mere days after being selected in the 1st round, 29th overall, by the Washington Nationals, University of Florida right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning found himself on the mound in a deciding game against Florida State, with the winner going to Omaha and the College World Series.  Eager to see what type of talent the Nationals added to their organization, I decided to do an Armchair Evaluation of Dunning’s recent outing on June 13th.

Due to the depth of the Florida pitching staff, the 21-year-old Dunning has spent most of his 3 years in Gainesville starting for the Gators during the midweek and pitching in relief on the weekend.  However, he would serve as the Friday starter for approximately 90% of college teams and would pitch in the weekend rotation for every other team besides the loaded Florida Gators.  Prior to this season he struggled with his command and control of the strike zone, but made major strides as a junior, posting 85 strikeouts against only 12 walks in 75 innings pitched this season.

Against a stout Florida State lineup, Dunning entered the game in the 4th inning in relief of A.J. Puk and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing 0 runs on 4 hits and 0 walks against 5 strikeouts.  Dunning needed 67 pitches to get these 13 outs (47 strikes & 20 balls), getting 5 fly outs and 3 ground outs.

There comes a time when you need to take the advice of your doctor, or can go for medication like discover content cialis samples, cialis etc. The experts are of an opinion that it should be taken and vardenafil vs viagra should promptly consult health physician. It’s time to free cialis sample recover the spice of your love life. Edegra has been made up of sildenafil Citrate, the most canada viagra cialis significant cum common ingredient used in manufacturing Tadalista is Tadalafil. The 6-3 205lbs Dunning has an ideal pitcher’s frame with some projection remaining, especially in his lower half.  He features a semi-windup with a high leg kick, giving him excellent momentum and extension toward home plate.  Dunning throws from a three-quarters release point and has noticeable arm speed.  He has a relatively clean, simple motion with excellent balance and repeats the delivery well.

In this appearance Dunning showed an impressive 3-pitch arsenal, featuring a 91-95mph fastball (according to the television radar gun) with extreme movement to his arm-side.  In fact, several times I misidentified his fastball as a changeup because of the extreme movement and sinking action.  Additionally, Dunning showed an impressive 78-84mph slider with 12-6 movement, which induced several swings-and-misses.  Finally he threw two mid-80s changeups with some sinking movement resembling his fastball, and shows promise due to the 10+mph separation.  Dunning shows average or better command and control of the strike zone, along with an aggressive attitude toward attacking hitters.  Overall, I would put a “60” or better on the fastball, particularly due to the movement, a “50/55” on the slider and an “Incomplete/45” on the changeup.

After watching this appearance by Dane Dunning, I find myself rather fired up that the Nationals were able to select someone of his talent at pick #29.  He pitches extremely well off his fastball, an easy plus offering, and his slider was more impressive in this outing than it was by reputation pre-draft.  He will need to refine both his off-speed pitches if he wants to be a starter, but the potential exists for Dunning to have a plus fastball and two average to above-average off-speed pitches.

Assuming he stays healthy and can strengthen his arm for the rigors of pitching 180+ innings per season, Dunning projects as a strong #3/#4 starter, with the floor of a late-inning reliever.  Considering his high floor and reasonably high ceiling, Dunning was an astute pick by the Nationals at the end of Round 1.

4 thoughts on “Armchair Evaluation – Washington Nationals 1st Round Pick Dane Dunning

  1. Weston Davis would have been buried
    On that depth chart if he did not sign
    With Nats…

  2. Looks like the Nats have signed 8 of 11 of their Round 1-10 selections.
    1a. C. Kieboom – 2.0 million (slot 2,065,900)
    1b. D. Dunning – Unsigned
    2. Sh. Neuse – 900,000 (slot 1,107,000)
    3. J. Luzardo – 1.4 million (slot 635,800)
    4. N. Banks – Unsigned
    5. D. Johnson – 325,000 (slot 354,300)
    6. T. Barrera – 210,000 (slot 265,400)
    7. J. Noll – 190,000 (slot 198,900)
    8. AJ Bogucki – 150,000 (slot 177,700)
    9. J. Harris – Unsigned
    10. P. Panaccione – 10,000 (slot 156,600)

    • Good work CD – If the calculator worked properly, we are $541,700 under slot as of now (not counting Luzardo, Dunning, Banks and Harris.

      Should be interesting to see if they can get Luzardo AND a couple late picks as well.

  3. Given the above #’s they sit -$223,400 above slot. With Dunning, Banks, Harris to go. I am thinking Banks wants above slot and the team is waiting on Dunning’s season to end and his signing savings, before they can announce both. The most interesting question for me is…Will their be any money leftover for high upside picks in Rounds 11-40. Most specifically, Round 11, Armond Upshaw,Pensacola St. JUCO who is the fastest OF in the 2016 class. He ran a 6.18 60 time! Round 34, Morgan Cooper, University of Texas R-So, and the real prize Round, 36, Jordan McFarland, University of Arkansas signee.6-foot-4, 230-pounder possesses a blend of size, speed and strength that has scouts drooling. A four-tool player, he possesses an enormous upside. Kid could be special. Unfortunately, he reportedly wants 2nd Round money, which would take an extra $800K-1M, if he’s looking for something like that. Seems like the best the Nats could do would be to have $400-500K available at most. I am thinking whatever (if anything) the team has left they will sign Upshaw, make an offer to Cooper and call it a day. If Cooper declines there might be just enough to sprinkle it amongst 1-2 others with somewhat less but still moderate upside.

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