COL @ HOU

• Wandy Rodriguez is a 5-11, 195 pound 30 year old. The left hander has a small frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some run. His change is a straight change with some sink. His curveball is an 11-4 type pitch that can be inconsistent with break, ranging anywhere from plus to average. The plus curve has great depth and just falls off the table, while the average ones tend to look like slurves. He has a classic drop and drive delivery and cocks his arm a little, as it stays up at the top of the arm circle longer then most. He struggled with his command, leaving a lot of fastballs belt high and throwing a ton of curveballs belt high. He had allowed 1 home run all season (something like 65 innings) and proceeded to allow 4 (Atkins twice, Spilborghs, Hawpe). Wandy is a # 3 starter at best. His main issue is that he is primarily FB-CB. These 2 pitches have enough speed difference that you can sit on one and still be able to foul the other off if he throws it. He was pitching over his head at the beginning of the season.

1st: FB (89-92), CB (77-79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (90-92), CB (75-78), CU (85-86)

3rd: FB (88-92), CB (75-79), CU (85-86)

4th: FB (89-92), CB (74-76)

5th: FB (85-90), CB (75-78), CU (84)

• Jason Hammel was acquired by the Rockies after he lost his bid against Jeff Niemann for the 5th spot in the Rays rotation. The 6-6, 220 pound right hander has a big frame that has room to add more muscle. The 26 year old comes at you from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His change shows good fade and sink and will throw it to right handers. It will flash plus with excellent sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch with good bite and depth. It has some good late downward action as well. His slider is a 2-7 offering with some bite and depth. The slider is just a harder thrown curve. He showed great command and had a loose arm with a little wrist circle while he was in his arm circle. Hammel's upside is that of a # 2 starter, but his realistic ceiling is a # 3. He can add quite a bit more muscle to his frame and has a good array of pitches.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (84), CB (76), CU (85)

2nd: FB (93-94), SL (83-84), CB (78), CU (85)

3rd: FB (91-94), CB (76-77), CU (85)

4th: FB (92-94), SL (83-85), CB (77), CU (85)

5th: FB (91-94), CB (77-78), CU (83-85)

6th: FB (93), SL (85)

7th: FB (91-93), CB (76-77), CU (83-84)

• Russ Ortiz was the 1st of two Houston long relievers that I am better off without seeing. He came from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 big breaker with average break. His change is straight with a little fade and sink and is more of a show pitch. His cutter has good late action in on lefties and is an effective weapon. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite. I guess he can be solid as a long man, but isn't there someone in their system that can do that?

6th: FB (88-91), CB (75-77), CU (81), Cut (89-91)

7th: FB (90-92), CB (74-78), Cut (87-90), SL (86)

• Brandon Backe was the other. Remember when he was a good starter? Neither does anyone else. The 6-0, 195 pound right hander has a medium frame that can add more muscle. The 31 year old featured a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade, but is just an average offering. He really struggled to command the fastball and left them up, away, down and in. His slider is a 2-7 offering with average bite. His curveball is 12-6 with good late bite and depth. His cutter doesn't do much to the naked eye. Another guy who I guess could be a good long man. The Astros need to find some guys that actually have some upside to throw these meaningless innings in my opinion.

8th: FB (89-91), Cut (88-89), SL (81-83), CB (75)

9th: FB (86-90), CB (75)

• Jason Grilli continued his struggles. Coming from a high 3/4 release, the right hander showed a fastball with some fade, a slider that can be anywhere from average to plus and a change with some fade but little sink. His fastball is slightly above average and his slider can be anything on a given day, as his plus slider moved across nearly the entire plate with good bite while his average sliders had just a little bite . Solid middle reliever who has been battling his command and continued to do so tonight.

8th: FB (92-95), SL (82-87), CU (85-86)

• Alan Embree is what he always is, a left hander who pitches from a high 3/4 release with a 4-seam fastball with some run and a 11-4 slider with good bite. He can keep this up as long as he maintains his velocity. Take out the 88 pitch and he was 92-94 with his heat.

9th: FB (88-94), SL (77-80)

• Edwin Bellorin is a 27 year old catcher who was the guy to take Chris Iannetta's spot for the next week or so. The 5-9, 225 pounder has a small frame that is maxed out. He has an open stance with a little bat wiggle. He holds the bat similar to Matt Stairs with some cocking action, which is his trigger combined with a stride. His swing can get a little long. He doesn't look to profile well as anything more then a back-up catcher, as his bat looked fringy with slightly below average pop and may struggle to catch up to plus fastballs. He presented a big target to throw to and looked like he called a pretty good game. Who knows if he will gain membership into the 10 year back-up catcher club started by Tim Laker?

Off tomorrow!!!! Thank God. I need sleep. Got a baseball game though, so it's not like I have nothing to do. One of these days, I will.

One of the games on my get to watch list (going to try and watch it Sunday) is Vin Mazzaro's major league debut.

Another Opinion on the McLouth Trade

Why not, I have a forum to utilize. Take my opinion as the same you would Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, etc., as I know as much as they do in regards to this trade and who won, nothing.

Braves Side:
So many Pirates fans are going to be up in arms over the loss of Nate McLouth, a "5-tool player" who was an All-Star last season. In looking at Nate's numbers from last season (,276-.356-.497, 26 HR's -94 RBI's, 23/26 SB's) he was an All-Star. You do have to remember that McLouth played half his games last season in a park designed for lefties (where he slugged 20 points better, I admittedly thought it would be higher). In the 2nd half last season, he hit .270-.355-.426. This season he is hitting .256-.349-.470 with 9 HR's and 34 RBI's and is 7-7 on steals. He was a gold glove defender last year, but I personally think Schafer is better defensively. McLouth gives the Braves a legitimate CF bat which they haven't had yet this year and they have him under control for awhile (I believe 3 years). If Schafer can figure things out, McLouth can move to an OF corner and maintain average production for the position.

Pirates Side:
Pittsburgh seems to value quantity over quality. In their big deal at the deadline last season, they seemed to focus on getting raw numbers back. In this deal, they picked up Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke and, the main guy, Gorkys Hernandez. The Pirates really could have used picking up a potential ace (especially since the ace they picked up in the Bay deal, Bryan Morris, is not expected to start pitching until late June due to significantly restricted range of motion in his right shoulder), but teams are shying away from dealing their young pitching. The Pirates have appeared to focus on getting close to major league ready arms, take a flier on a guy in the low minors and get toolsy outfielders.

Morton did not impress me in his brief major league debut last season. The right hander has pitched very well at Gwinnett (AAA) however, going 7-2, 2.51 with 55 strikeouts and 16 walks. He is 6-4, 190, so he still has room to grow and his upside is that of a middle of the rotation (# 3 starter).

Locke was one of the pitchers I saw when I worked for Columbus last season and I wasn't that impressed. The hitters in high A haven't been impressed either, as Locke went 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA at Myrtle Beach, though he does have 43 strikeouts (against 26 walks) in 45 and 2/3 innings. I personally thought Locke was a fringe major leaguer, but I admit seeing him before I really focused on scouting guys.

Hernandez is the prize of this deal. Another 5 tool outfielder, he was hitting .316-.361-.387 at the time of the trade in AA Mississippi. He is very raw, as he is 10/18 on steals and has 15 walks against 54 strikeouts in 212 at bats. His lack of power has to be a little disturbing due to the other players the Pirates have coming up (more on that below), but he should be a major leaguer and that is as far as I can go on him, as I have never seen him play and am going off what I read.

Pittsburgh now has the potential to run out an OF of Andrew McCutchen (.303-.361-.493 at AAA prior to his call-up with 10 stolen bases), Hernandez and Jose Tabata (.250-.324-.297 at AA Altoona) in the next year and a half if all goes according to plans. All are fast, but all have question marks in regards to power. With the game shifting towards a speed based, defense oriented team, this looks like an outfield designed to save a lot of runs.

Chart Observations: MIL @ FLA

• Braden Looper is a 34 year old who stands 6-3, 235. The right hander has a medium to big frame that is maxed out. His fastball is a 2-seam with late fade. His split shows good dive and sink. His slider is a 2-8 type offering that wasn't on at all. He has a somewhat violent head jerk and also appears to jerk most of his body. Looper was primarily FB-Split (40 %- 35 %) and his slider did not have good movement today. This left him with 2 pitches the 2nd and 3rd times through the order and he began to get pounded. A pitcher that needs to have all 3 of his pitches to be at least average to have a chance at a successful start, Looper is the 3rd 5th starter on the Brewers I saw in this series (Parra, Suppan).

1st: FB (86-90), SL (84-85), Split (81-82)

2nd: FB (88-90), SL (86), Split (83-84)

3rd: FB (89-90), SL (84), Split (82-84)

4th: FB (88-89), SL (84), Split (80-83)

5th: FB (88-90), SL (83-85), Split (78-83)

• Sean West opposed him. I have seen all of West's starts and this was by far his worst one. West comes from a high 3/4 release. His change is straight with some sink. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with some run. His slider is a 2-7 offering with some bite, but was loopy. He was missing down and in with his fastball early. He almost looked to be guiding the ball instead of throwing it and really struggled with his command. His slider looked fringy in this outing and his change was just a tick above average while his fastball velocity was down. Just a bad outing that was made worst by Penn.

1st: FB (90-92), SL (80-81), CU (83)

2nd: FB (87-90), CU (81)

3rd: FB (88-91), SL (80-82), CU (80-84)

4th: FB (86-90), CU (81-84)

5th: FB (89), SL (81), CU (79-83)

• Hayden Penn was the 2nd reliever in this series to be cast away after an outing (Julio). Penn has a high 3/4 release and shows a fastball with some fade and a 12-6 curveball that is inconsistent, but will flash above average. He has a fairly violent head jerk in his delivery, which may cause some of the command issues. He has no command, but strikeout stuff. His numbers say it all (22 IP, 20 BB, 27 K) and he will get more chances.

5th: FB (88-92), CB (73-77)

• Brian Sanches attacked from a high 3/4 release. The right hander showed a fastball with some run or fade (depending on what he felt like doing) with sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite and his curve was thrown over the head of J.J. Hardy.

5th: FB (88-89), SL (82-83)

6th: FB (87-89), SL (78-83), CB (72)

• Seth McClung served as the bridge from Looper to Hoffman. He had an over the top release and showed a sharp slider that is a 2-7 offering that flashes plus with great bite, a straight fastball, though me mixed in a 2-seam with good fade and sink, mostly to lefties. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6. His change shows some fade and sink (and could be a splitter), but the one he threw went about 54 feet.

5th: FB (93-95), SL (83)

6th: FB (91-95), CB (76-79)

7th: FB (91-95), SL (81-84)

8th: FB (92-96), SL (83-84), CB (78), CU (85)

• Kiko Calero came from an over the top release with a fastball that had some fade and sink and a 2-7 slider that continues to show good bite. He has plus command of the slider and threw about 70 % in this outing, as is typical for him.

7th: FB (90-91), SL (79-83)

8th: FB (89-91), SL (80-82)

• Dan Meyer attacked from a high 3/4 release. He featured a sweeping slider that is a 10-4 offering with decent bite, though it can move more like a cutter. He also showed a straight 4-seam fastball and a change that had some fade and sink, though it was fairly straight.

9th: FB (90-91), SL (82-84), CU (78-80)

• Trevor Hoffman is a 41 year old who stands 6-0, 220. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He attacks from an over the top release. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. He still has his lights out change, as it looks like a fastball out of his hand and almost appears to hang there. It shows above average sink and average fade. Hoffman doesn't have long left and I wouldn't like him as my closer due to his lack of real swing and miss stuff. He did give up a couple of hard hit line drives that turned into outs and I personally think this is his last season.

9th: FB (84-86), CU (72-73)

• Alejandro De Aza is a 6-0, 175 pound outfielder. The lefty hitter/thrower has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. The 25 year old has an open stance with a little crouch. He has the slap hitter trigger, as his body moves forward while his hands stay back. He chased 2 splitters from Looper out of the zone in his 1st AB and Looper made him swing and miss on his good splitters (he threw quite a few bad ones). De Aza showed above average speed and an average arm. Your classic 4th OF potential, as I would be shocked if he ever hit more then 5 home runs (and hasn't yet done it in the minors). He is a slap hitter that doesn't seem to be skilled in pitch recognition or fast enough to make a defense change how to defense him. AAA OF is his more likely ceiling (think Freddy Guzman but slower. Yea, that isn't a great package)

Reliever Study Update:

DL Database is complete and all the pitcher's DL information has been entered into my main pitcher datasheet. There are 2 columns in there, days missed due to an arm injury and days missed to a non-throwing arm injury. This will allow me to compare players returning from a prolonged injury to the arm, not to the hip or back and see the likelihood a player can return to his previous success.

Also have completely finished the modifying of the pitch type data and it is ready for it's basic calculations (% regression for those that throw over 80 % FB's for example) and will get deeper. I am hoping these single pitch evaluations will help lead me to a weight system to quantify the impact throwing these pitches has on a player's arm (For example, every % fastball is 1, every percent slider is 4, etc.). Then similarity scores can be made based off a pitcher's repetoire "score". That is my basic hope though, we will see what happens.

Got the Stros-Rockies tonight featuring 2 pitchers I haven't yet seen, but have wanted to: the Rockies Jason Hammel and the Astros Wandy Rodriguez.

PHI @ SD

Am supposed to make my Happ report detailed. As if my scouting reports aren't detailed enough...

• J.A. Happ is a 26 year old who stands 6-6, 200. The left hander has a big frame that can add a ton more muscle and can probably get up to 215 very comfortably. He comes from a high 3/4 release. He pauses when he is at the bottom of the arm circle with a straight arm. His arm action is similar to that of Ubaldo Jimenez, though not to as big of an extent. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with a little run, though he will also mix in a 2-seamer with a little fade. His cutter is similar to Jamie Moyer's, in that it moves and looks more like a slider on most occasions. It can be anywhere from a 2-7 to a straight side to side pitch. His curveball is a big breaking 11-5 offering that he didn't throw much, but is a pitch he will need to be succesful as a starter. His changeup looks like a fastball out of his hand with good sink and fade, but he didn't throw any after Nick Hundley singled off it. His cutter looks like a fastball out of his hand, but keeps going down. His cutter is his out pitch, but it isn't a swing and miss offering. Likes to throw high fastballs with an 0-2 count or throw a cutter. Looks like he could be a back of the rotation starter, as his frame shows the ability to add a ton more muscle and add velocity. Strikes me as a classic pitching tweener though, one who doesn't have enough pitches to be a starter and no true out pitch to be a strong reliever.

1st: FB (88-90), Cut (82-84), CB (73)

2nd: FB (89-92), Cut (83-85), CU (79-81)

3rd: FB (88-92), Cut (82-85)

4th: FB (88-91), Cut (82-85)

5th: FB (88-91), Cut (80), CB (75)

6th: FB (88-92), Cut (83-85)

7th: FB (87-91), Cut (81-82)

• Chris Young is a 30 year old who stands 6-10, 280. The right hander has a big frame that appears to be maxed out. His gloves goes really high after separation, way over his head. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has some cutter movement to it while his slider is a 2-7 pitch that can be inconsistent break-wise. He can hang some spinning sliders. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 pitch that he doesn't throw enough, though it is a little loopy. His command can be inconsistent and he can leave fastballs up. PETCO forgives a lot of his mistakes and I believe he could only be a major league starter playing half his home games at PETCO.

1st: FB (85-89), SL (78-79), CU (79), CB (70)

2nd: FB (85-87), SL (75-78), CU (79)

3rd: FB (85-87), SL (77-78), CU (75-77), CB (68)

4th: FB (84-87), SL (75-76)

5th: FB (85-86), SL (74-78), CU (73-75)

6th: FB (84-86)

• J.C. Romero is a 33 year old who stands 5-11, 205. This was the left hander's first appearance since being suspended for steroids. He has a small frame that is maxed out. He comes from a high 3/4 release, though he will drop down to 3/4 and will go sidearm to throw 0-2 sliders to lefties. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade and sink. His change shows some fade and sink. His slider is a 10-4 offering that can be slurvy. He has a classic drop and drive delivery as a reliever. Solid reliever who can bounce between quite a few roles in a pen.

8th: FB (91-94), SL (80-83), CU (78-81)

9th: FB (91-93), SL (82)

• Ryan Madson finished the game for the Phils. The right hander showed a high 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball and one changeup that was in the dirt.

9th: FB (95-96), CU (83)

• Greg Burke attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His fastball has good fade and movement. His slier is a 2-7 offering that is average. He is your classic sinker/slider reliever. He did not have his best command tonight and got hit harder then he had been.

7th: FB (89-91), SL (82-83)

• Luke Gregerson attacked from a 3/4 release with a fastball that showed excellent fade and sink, a sharp 2-7 slider and a changeup with good fade and sink.

8th: FB (91-92), SL (81-85), CU (80)

• Edward Mujica attacked from a 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a split with above average fade and sink. He had good command of his off speed stuff for the most part tonight, though struggled to hit spots with his fastball.

9th: FB (92-94), SL (81-86), Split (87-88)

• Will Venable has returned to the big leagues. The 26 year old who stands 6-2, 210 has a medium frame with room to add more muscle. The lefty hitter/swinger has a slightly open stance. He just doesn't look comfortable in the box. He holds his hands a little behind him and a touch in front of his body. His trigger is a little toe turn. He has an average arm and average speed. He has a double trigger in his swing, as he cocks the bat twice and his swing can get long as a result. He dropped a ball in LF and missed a mistake pitch that he should have hammered. A 4th OF who will need to show a lot more to stick in the bigs.