Do We Have A Pitching Factory?

 Reading Jonathon Mayo's article today I thought the comments from James Harris about pitching development were really interestng.  He seemed to want to step away from the use of the phrase "pitching factory" that so many of us have used.

Now, a good working defnition of a factory is a place where starting materials and/or important pieces are combined together to make a finished product.

The quality of that final product could vary based on the quality of the materials and how good the processes are for making that final product.  

Harris' comment from the article that caught my eye was "We've had success.  It starts with our scouting group.  People have identified strike throwers, guys who have some athleticism, mature bodies who come into our system and are open to partner with us.  It's not a system where it's like a factory where you come in and we create the same pitcher.  It's one where we partner with a pitcher, help him understand his strengths and then complement those strengths."

There is a lot to unpack in his words, to be sure, but I get what he is saying.  If you take the literal definition of a factory above, the connotation would be that, indeed, you were making the same product (identical pitcher) every time.  So, I agree with what Mr. Harris says, to a point.  We, as writers and fans, are misusing the word 'factory' AS IT PERTAINS TO WHAT THE GUARDIANS' PLAYER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM IS DOING.

However, I think what most, if not all of us, meant is that they get 'raw material' in and churn out major league pitchers.  Not bringing in Eli Morgan with his off-the-charts changeup and have him develop an Emmanuel Clase fastball to go with it.  But they worked with Morgan to increase the speed and maybe life on his fastball to make his changeup that much more effective.

Now, you want a factory?  If they could turn Javier Santos, Geo Rivera and Magnus Ellerts from their recent draft into Clase (or even Stephan) then I would be willing to fall back to the more formal definition of a factory.   

What we, as fans/writers, are saying is that the Guardians are obtaining pitchers who might not be major league pitchers with their current stuff and turning them into not only major league pitchers but average to excellent major league pitchers just by identifying what they look for to start the pitcher developments process (strikethrowers, athletes, college guys who are open to taking instruction) and then using established processes to help these guys reach and even exceed their potential,

So, Mr. Harris, I yield.   I will not call it a 'factory' in the future.  More appropriately I will call it The Cleveland Guardians Finishing School For Young Pitchers.  Unlike the finishing schools for young women in the 1800s and early 1900s, though, the Guardians' finishing school staff are teaching these pitchers, not to walk with good posture and know how to act in civilized and formal situations, but, rather, how to trash opposing hitters, be merciless in those efforts and help us to win world series championships.

Let the Finishing School flourish with a never-ending outpouring of quality major league pitchers (as well the occasional Javier Santos to Emmanuel Clase conversion).