- John Maine has good stuff with his low to mid 90's fastball, mid 80's change that he throws to both RH and LH hitters and a mid 80's slider. However, he has some of that Kevin Millwood control, where for 1 batter he can throw 4 pitches that aren't close. Can he continue to refine his command? You can never say never, and if he finds a way, a legit # 2 as opposed to a solid # 3 right now.
- Anibal Sanchez was a pain in the ass to chart. His fastball sits at 88-90 with some action, and he has a mid 70's curve. The difficulty in charting him rests in his mid 80's change vs. mid 80's slider. I had him at about 20 % of each pitch in this latest start. All of them are fairly major league average pitches and he is a pitcher that will need to be greater then the sum of his parts. Pitching in Florida helps him look better then he truly is. He is a back-end starter now (and I was a big fan when he came up).
- Sean Green is a very useful RHP to have in the pen. A sidearmer with great movement on his fastball, he has enough on his slider to make hitters respect it. A good 7th inning guy.
- J.J. Putz has weapons to attack both RH and LH with his slider-splitter combo to go with a mid 90's fastball. Could probably still close, but really helps the Mets shorten games with him and K-Rod.
- K-Rod still shows exactly what I saw in the playoffs. A pitcher who has lost velocity on his fastball (92-94 now) but has tremendous off-speed pitches (I believe his changeup is his best and LH seriously have no chance when it's on). I wouldn't have given him a big contract, but the Mets are looking to win now and are willing to sacrifice the money to bring him in. I think his contract will be a liability by his 3rd year personally. But if they win the World Series, it's worth it.
- Dan Meyer is now a reliever after failing to establish himself as a starter in the bigs. Nothing too exceptional about him and is a 3-pitch guy (FB, SL, CB).
- Renyel Pinto kind of disappointed me. This is the 1st I had seen of him pitch (and was a fan based off stats and stuff I had read) but I just didn't see it. Sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, but neither of his offspeed pitches are overwhelming. Throws a straight change as his top offspeed and it shows some good sink. His slider is solid average as well. He is a solid middle reliever (whereas I had thought he might be a late inning guy).
- Welcome back to earth Emilio Bonifacio. I love how people freak out on a week's worth of at-bats. The kid is a slap hitter who is still developing plate discipline. He is not going to hit .300. I think he is a .250-.260 hitter with some steals. Not a lead-off hitter and not 3rd base production, but a super-utility position would be his best option.
- Hanley Ramirez took a fastball off the wrist. If he is hurt for any prolonged period of time, the Marlins are in a world of hurt. He was smiling in the dugout with it wrapped, so maybe he is just day to day.
- Omir Santos hit a grand slam. Some Mets fans will now think he is their answer at catcher. He isn't.
Scoring the Pittsburgh-Milwaukee game tonight with Paul Maholm and Dave Bush. We will see if Bush can try and impress me this time out.
