SEA vs. TEX

• Jarrod Washburn started for the Mariners and featured his 5 pitch mix of a fastball at 84-89, a cutter at 84-87, a changeup at 77-84 (2nd most thrown pitch), a slider at 74-80 that he used to lefties and righties to get ahead or put away and a curveball at 66-68 that he threw on the 1st pitch to get a cheap strike. No change on my opinion of him, but the lack of velocity on his fastball is concerning.
• Brandon McCarthy opposed him and he disappointed me. He has lost a lot of fastball velocity since he was a reliever for the White Sox. McCarthy showed a fastball at 87-90, a hard curveball from 76-81, a soft curveball from 72-75 and a changeup at 76-79. McCarthy's curveball is plus, but it isn't a strikeout pitch. His fastball is merely average and his changeup is a tick above average. If he can throw strikes with the curveball, he can be a middle of the rotation starter. If he doesn't, he is a back-end starter at best. He attacks hitters from straight over the top and showed above average command of all his pitches tonight.
• David Aardsma was 91-95 with his fastball and threw one slider at 81 that hung. His fastball is plus, but you have to wonder how long he can get away with it being his only pitch.
• Eddie Guardado is done in my opinion. Tonight, he was 84-86 with his fastball, 76-79 with his slider and threw a changeup at 77. Having 3 lefties (Guardado, Wilson and Derek Holland) is a luxury that this team needs to correct, especially since Guardado has had struggles this season.
• Darren O'Day is a side-arming, ground ball forcing right hander who has been phenomenal since coming over. He sat at 84-86 with his fastball and his slider was 76-77. He looks like a legitimate major league ROOGY (and even struck out Russell Branyan). It appears the Mets allowed another one to get away. I think he profiles very well as a right handed middle reliever, with his main role being to get out tough righties or to get double plays.
• Sean White showed a fastball at 90-92, an average slider at 83-86 and a plus changeup at 80-82. He needs to throw the change more, as this was his best off-speed pitch in my opinion. He may be getting the message, as he used it to strike out Marlon Byrd, a right hander.
• C.J. Wilson was in line to take the loss before Brandon Morrow's struggles, but he pitched well. He showcased a fastball at 91-93, a slider at 81-86 and a changeup at 83-85. He was over exposed as a closer, but he is a quality setup guy, as his fastball velocity is plus. His slider and changeup are both a tick above average. He showed strong command tonight as well.
• Garrett Olson made an appearance tonight and was in line to get the win. Olson attacked hitters with a fastball at 87-90, a curveball at 79-80 that moves more like a slider and a changeup at 80-82. Olson definitely doesn't have the stuff to be a starter and I don't think he has the stuff to be better then a long reliever/mop-up guy. He needs to further refine his command and his off-speed offerings.
• Brandon Morrow took the loss after allowing a shot to Hank Blalock that I thought was gone off the bat. He showed a plus fastball at 94-98 and plus curveball at 83-84. He should have had Josh Hamilton struck out looking on a great curveball, but the home plate umpire couldn't pull the trigger. He has great potential, but his command has a ways to go until you can feel confident when he is out there. Right now, every save will be an adventure.
• Elvis Andrus is a 20 year old who stands 6-0, 185 pounds. He has a medium frame with the room to add quite a bit more muscle, probably at least 10 pounds. He features a fairly straight up stance and holds the bat above his shoulder at a 45 degree angle. He shows a little bat wiggle. He seems to bring all his weight forward when he strides, limiting the time to make a decision to swing or not. He is a very aggressive hitter. He is a special fielder, one with great hands and an above average accurate arm. He has plus range to his right. He is a plus runner with borderline 75 speed. His worst case scenario in my opinion is a career like Omar Vizquel's, as he is close to the same class of fielder potentially. Best case? He is 20 and playing in the majors. The sky is the limit for this kid, though he will likely never be more then a 20 home run guy.

Tomorrow I have an extra chart and will see the same 2 teams again with a match-up of Felix Hernandez and Matt Harrison.