April 9, 2007
Rick Vanden Hurk
Fish Call Up Vanden Hurk
With the Marlins rotation now down two starters, Florida called up Double-A Carolina righthander Rick Vanden Hurk on Monday. The 21-year-old will make his major league debut Tuesday against the Brewers.
“Rick’s been up and down with injuries over the last two seasons, but he’s been impressive this spring,” Marlins vice president of scouting and player development Jim Fleming said. “He went up there (to big league camp) at the end of spring training and did very well. We know he’ll be able to handle it, and this is a great opportunity for him.”
A converted catcher who signed at age 17 out of the Netherlands in 2002, Vanden Hurk had Tommy John surgery in 2005 and came back late last season, really putting himself back on the map in Hawaii Winter Baseball. The 6-foot-5 righthander hasn’t seen live hitters since his last spring outing, but Fleming said that wasn’t too much of a concern.
“He was scheduled to pitch yesterday, so he is almost in his normal routine,” he said. “He has that couple extra days, but it shouldn’t be a factor.”
Vanden Hurk’s fastball was up to 97 in Hawaii, and in addition to his curveball and changeup, the Marlins added a cut fastball to his repertoire near the end of last season.
“He’s similar to (Marlins No. 1 prospect Chris) Volstad in that he’s a big kid with good body control and really can pitch with his fastball,” Fleming said. “His breaking ball was soft and really didn’t kind of go with him and his approach, so we gave him a cut fastball. We firmed up the curveball and gave him another weapon—a cutter to use so there’s not such a variance of speed. Now he has three pitches and he has a good changeup.
“The cutter just needs to be a cutter—just something he can use to go hard in on lefthanders. He’s a very smart, very mature kid that has a wonderful opportunity in front of him.”
When he returned last season, Vanden Hurk finished 0-0, 1.80 with 36 strikeouts in 25 innings between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and high Class A Jupiter. He went 2-2, 3.60 with a 63-17 strikeout-walk ratio in 40 innings in Hawaii. In big league camp this spring, Vanden Hurk allowed three runs on four hits over just four innings. |
