David Laurila speaks with Reds pitching prospect Braxton Roxby about how the Reds helped him develop as a pitcher. He throws a one-seam cut fastball and a sweeping slider. The slider worries me, however:

There have been games when it’s the only pitch he’s thrown. When Roxby made his professional debut in early May, he struck out the side on 15 straight sliders. On three separate occasions he’s worked an inning without throwing a single fastball.

FanGraphs.com

Whenever I hear about a pitcher throwing lots of sliders, I go back to this article on Zack Greinke. Greinke cut down on his slider use because he felt it was damaging his elbow. A good slider is an out pitch, a pitched to be saved for when the pitcher really needs a strikeout. We should keep our eye on Roxby to see if he winds up with a bad elbow.