Chicago Cubs’ first round pick Alex Lange falls behind early against FSU

While the Chicago Cubs were battling with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, their first-round pick was busy as well. Similar to his new big league club, LSU’s right-hander fell behind early.

On June 12th, Major League Baseball held their yearly draft which had the Chicago Cubs drafting two pitchers. That shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise to those who have been following this team.

The fact that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer focused on pitching this time around is a breath of fresh air for the organization. Now, it’s time to wait until they make their way to big league camps for the grooming process to begin.

But for right-hander Alex Lange, his College journey continues as LSU holds the No. 4 seed in the College World Series.

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In the second match-up of the tournament, Lange squared off against southpaw Tyler Holton — a man compared to Tom Glavine. Right away, Lange walked the first batter of the contest and gave up a two-run homer to Pirates pick, Dylan Busby.

Watching the 21-year-old was a glimpse of what has been going on with Chicago’s starting rotation thus far in 2017. Fall behind early then settling in as time went on.

Early Command

However, he still had some trouble with his control, often spiking curveballs into the dirt, allowing a runner to advance. This brought up a few notes worth mentioning.

Keep in mind; this is the first time I’ve been able to watch him work on the mound.

Although it’s great to see someone putting effort into every pitch thrown, adjustments can and should be made. For instance, his delivery while working with runners on.

Lange’s delivery to the plate, no matter who was on the base paths, looked the same. It is as if he’s putting 110% behind every pitch thrown, even to first base. If he fails to make the proper adjustments, opposing teams will be running all day.

That puts more work on the shoulders of the man who will be sitting behind the dish. My guess would be Willson Contreras. Obviously, not taking anything from Willson and his ability to make a quick throw to catch a runner.

Wiggle Room

One thing you have to look at is his ability to freeze hitters. Over the course of his career, up until tonight, Lange has racked up nearly 400 strikeouts while walking only 135. Tonight, Lange opened up a few at-bats with first pitch changeups in an attempt to get his fastball into the mix.

Next: Glimpse of a good team is still there

Even then, the 21-year-old was unable to find his mark a few times, falling behind in the count on multiple occasions, forcing himself to wiggle out of trouble. That’s when his curveball usually came into play.

At least three out of the first five innings started off with a walk and he never had a 1-2-3 frame on the night. Despite recording eight strikeouts, Lange (101 pitches) yielded four earned runs on seven hits while issuing four walks in six innings of work.