At one time Kevin DeRouen was one of the prize prospects of the Columbus Whalers pitching factory, towards the end of that particular era of the Whalers franchise. And when DeRouen, at age 22 in 1979 went 20-6 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.12 WHIP it certainly appeared to be the start of an illustrious career.
It hasn't worked out that way. Granted, the biggest factor is that near the very end of that wonderful season DeRouen went down with an elbow injury that ended up requiring ligament reconstruction surgery and sidelined him for a bit less than a year and a half. When he did return in 1981 he still put up decent numbers. But boy was it all downhill from there.
And yesterday, after having already been released by the same team earlier in the season only to be signed to a minor league contract shortly thereafter, and having appeared in 16 games for the Phoenix Speed Devils out of the 'pen, to the tune of a 5.59 ERA, DeRouen once again found himself let go and searching for a home. At age 30 he still has an excellent splitter and a pretty fine sinker and throws upwards of 98 miles per hour with plus stuff. But he's also a flyball pitcher with low stamina, poor control, a useless changeup and weak slider and while he might get a few more chances pitching out of big league bullpens somewhere the great promise he once showed as a future Harris/Lee award winner has long ago vanished.