Sean West

2013

There was no outlook written for Sean West.

2012

West is still left-handed, and his stuff still shows promise when everything is in sync, but injuries continue to derail any forward momentum in his career. More than anything else, West just needs reps to harness his mechanics and finally see what he can do, but having thrown just 155 innings combined over the last two seasons due to back, knee and elbow woes, reps have been in short supply. He's the kind of pitcher who could blossom at any time if things fall into place, but with the Marlins moving away from their "let's cross our fingers and hope something goes right for once" game plan and into a legitimate win-now mode, West may have to look elsewhere for a chance to finally make good on that promise.

2011

He started the season with a bad back that cost him any chance of breaking camp with a major league job, but after he got back on the mound at Triple-A, West showed signs of developing the control he needs to finally break through. A knee injury then cut short his year before he could bring his new skills to the Marlins rotation, and elbow soreness even got him pulled from the AFL. Health is now his biggest obstacle. If West can just put together six consecutive months without a DL stint he could really surprise, but we've said the same things about Andrew Miller before and look how that bit of optimism turned out. The Marlins aren't counting on West to fill a rotation spot, and neither should you.

2010

The Marlins rushed West to the majors earlier than they perhaps wanted to, as injuries and ineffectiveness cut into the organization's rotation depth, but the results weren't terrible given the rookie's lack of polish. West was too homer-prone at Double-A, and didn't strike out enough guys in the majors, but tall lefties with mid-90s fastballs and decent off-speed offerings will get all the time they need to iron out the kinks. Expect him to spend most or all of 2010 back in the minors, with an eye on 2011 as the year he rejoins the rotation for good.

2009

West had control issues in 2008, but given that he missed all of 2007 with shoulder problems that shouldn't have come as a terrible shock to anyone, including the Marlins. He still struck out nearly a batter an inning, and a 22-year-old 6-8 lefty with his potential is going to keep getting chances to realize it no matter how bad his control gets. He'll take a run at Double-A this year, and if he makes some strides he'll leap right back to the top of the Marlins' prospect list.

2007

West is the least developed of the Marlins' 2006 Low-A rotation top prospects, a tall (6' 8") lefty who's going to suffer through the inevitable Randy Johnson comparisons while he learns to repeat his mechanics and refine his control. He got his career off to a solid start on that front last year, walking just 40 batters in 120.1 innings (against 105 K's), and with further development at High-A this season he'll start commanding the same attention from prospect hounds that Chris Volstad and Aaron Thompson are already getting.

2006

West is a 6-8 lefty, drafted in the supplemental first round in 2005 out of high school in Louisiana. He has a low 90s fastball, but is still refining his curveball and changeup.