2007 first-round pick Poreda continues to rise through White Sox system

"Mark Buehrle asked me, 'How do you throw 100 miles per hour?" said Poreda of an encounter with the White Sox left-hander whose fastball rarely touches 90 mph. "I told him I got lucky—the radar gun was juiced and the wind was blowing behind me."

Juiced radar gun and gale-force winds or not, Poreda has one of the best fastballs of any major or minor-league player in the White Sox organization. It's this upper-90's fastball that blew scouts away enough to rate him as the No. 1 prospect in the White Sox organization.

"When you get that kind of recognition, it’s a great accomplishment," remarked Poreda of being named the top prospect in the White Sox organization. "But I don't get caught up in it, and I have to continue to work. The White Sox have a very high expectation for me, and I put that expectation on myself."

Poreda started the 2008 season with single-A Winston-Salem and went 5-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 12 starts for the Warthogs, limiting hitters to a .238 batting average against him. The tall left-hander allowed just one home run, walked 18, and struck out 46 in his 73.1 innings of work before being promoted to Double-A Birmingham last week.

In his first start with the Barons, Poreda went 6.0 innings and allowed four earned runs. However, Poreda did not walk a batter and struck out five.

The biggest question mark for Poreda has been the development of his offspeed pitches. Poreda features a slider and a changeup and has also been working on adding a cuveball to his repotoire. "I haven’t mastered it yet," said Poreda of his curveball. "The White Sox feel my harder slider is better for me in the long run. I can’t really have that true 12-6 curve because I throw from three-quarters, not over the top. If I need a strikeout pitch late in the game, it’ll probably be slider."

"If I can mix [my offspeed pitches] up and throw them all for strikes, I can pitch later into the game."

However, Poreda's out-pitch is still his fastball. "The fastball is my bread and butter," explained Poreda. "It’s my go-to pitch in a key situation."

While Poreda is just 21, his body and build compare favorably to a sure-fire Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson, who is 6' 10" and weighs in at 225 lbs. Of course, considering Poreda's age, it's far too early to be seriously placing those kind of expectations on him. Right?

"I’m nowhere near as good of a pitcher as he is," said Poreda of the 44-year-old 'Big Unit.' "I do kind of have the same body type as him, though. That would be great if I could accomplish what he has, but you have to take it one day at a time."

Some feel Poreda's stuff lends itself more to a late-inning relief pitcher, however. "If I had a choice, I’d rather be a starter," noted Poreda. "I like knowing when I’m going to pitch. Out of the bullpen, I have to be ready any day.

But if I had to choose between moving up faster as a bullpen pitcher or staying longer in the minors as a starter, I'd choose to pitch out of the bullpen."

Poreda certainly seems to have a bright big-league future ahead of him, but he still will have to do his time developing in the minors. "Realistically, I’d hope to make it to the big leagues in two or three years," added Poreda. "I’m making progress and we’ll see what happens."