Chart Observations: MIL @ FLA

• Jeff Suppan is a 34 year old who stands 6-2, 230. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He attacks hitter from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His fastball has some fade and a little sink. His change shows good fade and sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite and depth. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 that can hang at times and was a pitch he looked to bounce almost everytime he threw it. He can throw strikes with any of his pitches and will throw them all in any situation. He is what he is, an innings eater # 5 starter who has proven to be fairly durable. Expecting anything more is dumb.

1st: FB (85-88), SL (82-86), CU (79-81), CB (71-74)

2nd: FB (85-88), SL (81-84), CU (80-82), CB (72-73)

3rd: FB (86-89), SL (84-86), CU (79), CB (72-74)

4th: FB (85-87), CU (78-81), CB (72)

5th: FB (85-88), SL (84-85), CU (79-80), CB (75)

• Andrew Miller opposed him. Miller attacks from a high 3/4 release. His slider is a slurvy 11-4 offering. His fastball is a straight 4-seam, though he also looks to mix in a slower 2-seam with some run and sink. His change is a straight change that he didn't have as good a feel for as his last outing I saw. He really struggled to command his stuff and was constantly behind hitters. He threw almost all fastballs (likely around 85 %). Hard to think if he will ever turn it around, as it is difficult to learn how to consistently command pitches in the strike zone.

1st: FB (89-96), SL (77-79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (86-93), SL (77), CU (80-83)

3rd: FB (88-93), SL (79), CU (80)

4th: FB (86-91), CU (84)

5th: FB (89-92), SL (74)

• Cristhian Martinez is a 27 year old who stands 6-1, 160. The right hander has a medium frame with room to add a ton more muscle. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent, though inconsistent, bite and is average, though it does flash some late bite which would allow it to play up if he can do it consistently. His change has good fade, good sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand. It is his best offspeed pitch. He has a violent head jerk in his delivery and also kicks his lead leg straight out and may put a lot of weight on it when he lands. Has above average command and tends to throw a lot of strikes. A 11th or 12th guy in a bullpen, though he could be a late bloomer if he can add some muscle to his frame.

5th: FB (91-92), SL (80-82), CU (83-85)

6th: FB (90-92), SL (80-82), CU (81-85)

• Jorge Julio is a 30 year old in search of a new team, as he was released after this outing. The 6-1, 225 pound right hander has medium frame that is maxed out and there may be some bad weight there. He comes at you from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam that has a little fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent depth. His changeup has some fade and decent sink. He has major league stuff, but minor league control. His front side flies open everytime and he will never have good control with that. Don't even get started on his ability to command the strike zone, he needs to worry about strikes first. His mechanics need a little bit of a re-do and a right hander that still flashes plus velocity will get a shot somewhere to try and discover something.

6th: FB (88-95), SL (81-84), CU (79-84)

• Todd Coffey is a 28 year old who stands 6-4, 240. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out and may be carrying some bad weight. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows some fade and sink. His slider is a sharp 2-7 with good depth, though he can be inconsistent with it at times. He is a set-up man and he still has some closer potential depending on if he can improve his slightly above average command.

6th: FB (93-95), SL (84-86), Split (88)

• Seth McClung is a 28 year old who stands 6-6, 260. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out. He attacks from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 pitch. His slider is a 2-7 offering that is average. Likely your typical middle reliever, as he will never be a guy that will be able to consistently pound the strike zone.

7th: FB (91-93), CB (77-79), SL (84)

• Brian Sanches attacked from a high 3/4 release. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with great bite. His split shows good fade and dive, but is more of a contact then swing and miss pitch. His fastball shows some good fade. He has above average command and may be able to stick as a middle reliever, as Florida is very forgiving to fly ball relievers.

7th: FB (87-90), SL (83), Split (78-80)

• Carlos Villanueva is a 25 year old who stands 6-2, 230. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out and he may also be carrying some bad weight. He has an over the top release. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6. His changeup shows good fade and sink. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. Good long reliever who I would like to see be a guy to throw the 7th and 8th as a bridge to Trevor Hoffman.

8th: FB (85-88), CU (80-84), CB (71-73), SL (81-82)

• Leo Nunez attacks from a 3/4 release. His slider is inconsistent and can be just a spinner or it can show late break and be a 3-8 offering. His fastball shows good fade and some sink. His changeup shows good fade and sink and is his best off speed offering in my opinion. He can get pretty vanilla, throwing FB-SL to righties and FB-CU to lefties. Still believe in his closer potential.

8th: FB (93-94), SL (83-87), CU (86-88)

• Matt Lindstrom got the save and has been dominant both times I have seen him. He has a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider is a big breaking 1-7 offeing that can be a knee buckling pitch, but he is still inconsistent with both the break and command. His splitter shows good late sink and fade, but is merely a show pitch. He hasn't shown any of the command issues in the games I have seen and is a solid closer.

9th: FB (95-97), SL (80-83), Split (85)

• Casey McGehee is a 26 year old who stands 6-1, 195. The rigthy thrower/hitter has a medium frame that appears to be maxed out. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle and moves his front leg up and down as he waits for the pitcher to begin. His trigger is a toe turn and a cocking of the bat. He is more of a gap to gap hitter and has a good short swing. He will never hit for much power and isn't a great defender anywhere, though he can play 2nd, 3rd and likely the OF. Your quintessential utility player with the main question being if he will hit enough for his versatility to be useful.
• Mat Gamel made a pinch hitting appearance, so I will hold off on my potential view for him and tell you about his vitals. Gamel is a 6-0, 200 pound 23 year old. The lefty hitter, righty thrower has a medium frame that appears to be maxed out. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle. His trigger is a small leg kick with a cocking of the bat. He was fed 3 changeups by Nunez before rolling over on one for a routine ground out to second.

1st game of the Rockies-Astros series features the best pitching matchup: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Felipe Paulino.