NYM @ BOS

• Johan Santana got the start for the Mets and is a 30 year old who stands 6-0 and 21o pounds. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 89-93, a slider at 80-86 and a changeup at 79-84. His fastball has great movement and goes away from right handers. It is a plus offering. His changeup looks exactly like a his fastball out of his hand and then just disappears. It has great sink and fade and is truly a plus plus pitch. He has enough command of this pitch to throw it in any count, which really isn't fair. His slider has good late break and has some depth to it. He works from the 3rd base side of the rubber. Amongst the top 3 starters in baseball and may very well be the best.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka was back from the DL and pitched fairly well. The 28 year old who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 185 pounds featured a fastball at 91-94, a slider at 81-85, a changeup at 82-84, a splitter at 81-83 and a cutter at 86-90 from a high 3/4 release. He has a typical Japanese windup, pausing at the balance point and when he takes a step back to start his windup. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider is slower then his cutter and has some good side to side movement, but the downward break is inconsistent. His cutter has good movement and moves enough to avoid hitters from squaring it up consistently. His changeup has some good drop and a little fade. Probably fits best as a # 4 on a contender due to his high pitch counts. If he could ever figure out how to throw quality strikes and not walk a lot of guys, he has the pitches to be an above average # 3 starter.
• Justin Masterson fired 3 innings of relief today. The massive (6-6, 250) right hander featured a fastball at 89-95 and a slider at 82-85 from a low 3/4 release. Masterson has a big frame that appears to be maxed out and this is probably all you get from him from a stuff standpoint. He has a very quiet delivery until he breaks, where he gets his whole body into it and uses his 250 pounds to generate his velocity. His fastball has tremendous side to side movement and also shows some sink. He shows a rare ability to both command a pitch with that type of movement and to add and subtract to it for more movement or more speed as he desires. His slider is an above average offering with good depth, but it can be inconsistent. Masterson works painfully slow once runners reach base, but showed quicker to the plate then I thought, as I had him at 1 second on a fastball. Masterson's best role is probably that as a bridge reliever from the starter to the closer.
• Daniel Murphy is a 24 year old who stands 6 foot 3 and weighs 210 pounds. The lefty hitter/righty thrower has a medium to big frame with room to grow. He has a slightly crouched stance and is hunched over. He leans back on his bat leg and wiggles his elbows around as the pitcher is going through his motion. He has the conventional trigger with a step and bringing his ahnds back. He holds the bat almost horizontal just above his shoulder. He is a talented offensive player, showing an ability to work a count to get a pitch he wants, plus bat control and projects to be a 15-20 home run guy in the majors at worst. His biggest issue is where to play him defensively. He has had a lot of struggles in the OF this season and will never have the required power to be a 1B (or the glove to offset the lack of power). A defensive tweener + being a professional hitter usually spells a pinch hitter. I anticipate him sticking in either an outfield corner or at 1B once Carlos Delgado is gone and look to see him hitting .280-.360-.450 with some stolen bases.
• Bobby Parnell throws gas. The 23 year old who stands 6-4 and weighs 200 pounds showed an explosive 4-seam fastball at 96-100 from a high 3/4 release. He may have thrown one changeup that was average. He has a big frame that appears to be maxed out. He shows very easy velocity from a very clean windup and looks to have the looks of a future closer. Special arm.
• Daniel Bard is a 23 year old who stands 6-4 and weighs 200 pounds. He has a long and lean frame that has room to add a lot more muscle. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball from 96-97 and a curveball at 81-82. He battles his command from pitch to pitch and from batter to batter. The curveball showed great bite when used as a strikeout pitch, but flattened out when he tried to throw it for a strike. The Mets got some good swings on him, telling me he may not be quite ready for late inning work, but he is another big arm who has a bright future, likely as a set-up man.