Diamondbacks prospect Yu-Min Lin discusses strong start in Arizona Fall League

Through his first two outings in the Arizona Fall League, Yu-Min Lin has pitched six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

Diamondbacks pitching prospect Yu-Min Lin is quickly making up for lost time in the Arizona Fall League. Against the Scottsdale Scorpions, the left-hander spun his second straight three-inning scoreless start. Through two starts in the fall, Lin has spun six scoreless innings with just one walk and seven strikeouts.

“It was a very decent first outing and I watched my first outing video and try to do the same thing,” said Lin. “I just try to throw all my stuff.”

Lin showcased his ability to change locations and speeds. He has a deep repertoire of pitches, most notably a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, curveball, slider, and changeup. That deep arsenal was on full display in the second inning, as he struck out the side following a leadoff single.

He rung up Geovanny Planchart on a changeup that ran itself back over the plate, then punched out Eddison Paulino on a nasty three-pitch sequence (see embedded tweet below) that involved two sinkers and the slider, then got Peyton Graham to commit too hard on an elevated four-seamer after starting him soft early in the at-bat. It’s the type of sequencing and execution Lin will need to succeed as a potential big league starter.

In his outing, he was disappointed to not have a good feel for throwing his curveball but was encouraged by how well his four-seamer played in the start. He’s been working on throwing both the four-seamer and two-seamer.

“I throw a four-seamer and sinker most of the time because I’m not a huge velo guy, so I need to throw some more different movement pitches. So when you’re facing a righty, you can throw more four-seamers and when you face lefties, you can throw more sinkers.”

The data from the 2024 major league season backs up the thought process here. Hitters don’t have a big platoon split vs. 4-seamers with a .335 vs. .331 wOBA split between right-handed and left-handed hitters when facing a left-handed pitcher. However, the sinker shows a major platoon split as the split widens to .359 vs. .315.

Lin’s season nearly came to an abrupt end on April 27, when he was struck in the face by a line drive while standing in the dugout. He suffered a concussion, along with facial and jaw fractures, and was out for six weeks. The injury could have been much worse, but fortunately he was immediately able to start the rehab process following surgery.

“After getting hit, the first week is kind of a little scary to play catch. I’m fine here, I still play baseball, so it’s a big thing for me.”

During his rehab time, he worked from playing catch to stretching out to a 75-pitch workload at the complex. Lin made one rehab start in the ACL, going five innings before getting sent back to Double-A Amarillo on June 14.

In his final 16 starts, including a one-start cameo with Triple-A Reno, Lin pitched to a 3.54 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 31 walks in 81 ¹⁄₃ innings. While the injury certainly delayed his arrival to the big leagues, he was still able to put together a successful 2024 campaign.

He’ll likely have an opportunity to participate in big league Spring Training for the second straight year, although he’s still a long shot to break camp in the rotation.