My 4th of July Celebration

While some of you are cooking out, watching fireworks or out getting drunk b/c its Saturday night, I have a special celebration planned: The infamous 4-game day. I have 2 charts tomorrow (1 extra) and 2 scores (1 extra). So yea, tough break those of you actually out having fun, some of us have work that never ends (love the fact I can call watching baseball work and actually get paid)
My 2 scores:
1:05 MIL @ CHC (My extra, so pray for fast game): Braden Looper vs. Rich Harden

• Supposedly Harden only throws FB-CU, but his CU can look like a SL at times (if you think that sounds retarded, join the group) and I hope to watch it tomorrow to be sure

8:10 ARI @ COL: Yusmeiro Petit vs. Aaron Cook

• Petit used to be loved by the sabermetric community while the scouts were skeptical. Never really watched him pitch, so I am looking forward to it.

Chart Observations: NYM @ PIT: PIT Pitchers

1) Paul Maholm: 81 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. Fastball (4th), Slider (4th)

• Maholm comes from a high 3/4 release with a 2-seam fastball wtih good armside run and above average sink, a 11-4 curve with above average depth, a change with above average sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand and a sweeping 11-5 slider with good bite.

1st: FB (86-89), CB (73), CU (81-82), SL (80)

2nd: FB (87-89)

3rd: FB (86-90), CB (75), CU (82-84), SL (81)

4th: FB (87-91), CB (74-77), CU (84-85), SL (81-83)

5th: FB (87-90), CB (74-75), CU (82-83), SL (82)

2) Jeff Karstens: 25 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Karstens comes from an over the top release with a sharp 2-7 slider with good bite, a fastball with good armside and a little sink, a big breaking 12-6 curve and a change with some fade and sink from lefties.

5th: FB (87-90), SL (79), CU (79), CB (68-72)

6th: FB (87-91), SL (77), CB (69-76)

3) Evan Meek: 15 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Meek is a 6-0, 220 pound righty. The 26 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes from an over the top release. He is fairly difficult to chart, as he throws a FB, CB, Cut, SL and CU. I believe he is similar to some of these other pitchers that throw predominantly cutters, but some disagree. I believe his cutter has good cut, but the amount can be inconsistent and it can flash being straight. His 4-seam fastball has some run in on righties. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch with good depth. I like him and he has plus velocity, but his command can come and go.

7th: Cut (88-94), FB (93), CB (78)

4) Steven Jackson: 33 pitches. 4 strikes swinging. 3 on Sliders (8th, 2 in 9th), Changeup (8th)

• Jackson is a 6-5, 215 pound righty. The 27 year old has a big frame that has room to add a lot more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. His slider is a 2-7 pitch with solid bite, but can flatten out or flash as plus. His fastball is a 2-seam with some armside run and sink. His changeup has good fade and sink that he will throw occasionally to righties. I am not a big fan of him as a 1 inning reliever, and his velocity isn't good enough to really be a guy I would be confident in as a Scot Shields type. I think he is a swingman for a contender at best.

8th: FB (88-89), SL (80-83), CU (81-83)

9th: FB (87-90), SL (80-82), CU (81-83)

5) Jesse Chavez: 1 pitch.

• Chavez threw a fastball with some movement. Got a groundout and I do like his stuff.

9th: FB (93)

6) Matt Capps: 25 pitches. 3 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs, Changeup

• Capps is a 6-2, 245 pound righty. The 26 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out with a little bit of bad weight. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has some run in on righties. His slider is a big breaking 2-7 with good bite, but doesn't appear to be a true strikeout pitch due to some loopy action. His change is straight with a little late fade from lefties. Solid closer, but more of a set-up guy or middle reliever on a contender.

10th: FB (91-94), SL (82-84), CU (87-88)

On a personal note, despite a (what seems like) 0-13 slump (more of a junior year slump then the senior year FLA slump, made the same adjustment I did after FLA that year and am back to hitting the ball hard by getting my stride foot down quicker, just not getting the hits to show for it yet), I have been selected to the Tri County League All Star team. The game is next Friday (July 10th) and luckily I have off work that day, so this should be interesting.

Ladies, take note. I am an All-Star. True Story. :-)

Chart Observations: NYM @ PIT: NYM Pitchers

1) Tim Redding: 49 pitches. 4 strikes swinging. 3 on Fastballs (2 in 2nd, 3rd), Slider (3rd)

• Redding came from an over the top release with a 2-seam fastball with some late armside run, a change with good armside fade and sink, a big breaking 12-6 curve with good depth and a 2-7 slider with okay bite.

1st: FB (87-90), SL (85), CU (80-82)

2nd: FB (87-90), SL (81-83), CU (79-83), CB (75-77)

3rd: FB (86-89), SL (81-83), CU (81), CB (74)

2) Pat Misch: 6 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Misch came from a high 3/4, almost over the top release and showed a fastball with some gloveside run and sink and a 11-4 slider that just keeps going down.

3rd: FB (83-85), SL (81-84)

3) Elmer Dessens: 19 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Dessens came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with good armside run and above average sink, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with good armside fade and some sink. He will throw his change to righties.

4th: FB (86-90), SL (85-87), CU (84)

4) Brian Stokes: 21 pitches. 5 strikes swinging. 2 on Fastballs (both in 6th), 2 on Changeups (both in 5th) and a Curveball (6th)

• Stokes came from an over the top release with a 4-seam fastball with a little run in on righties and a change with good fade from lefties and sink. He also threw a 12-6 curve with good depth.

5th: FB (93-96), CB (80), CU (80-82)

6th: FB (92-95), CB (78-80)

5) Pedro Feliciano: 18 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Feliciano is a sidearming lefty who featured a fastball with some late armside fade and sink, a cutter with good cut, a 9-4 slider with solid bite and a straight change that moves like his fastball.

7th: FB (87-89), Cut (82-84), SL (74-77), CU (77-79)

6) Sean Green: 25 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. Changeup (8th), Slider (8th).

• Green is a sidearming righty whose fastball has excellent armside run and sink, a 1-7 slider with good bite and a change that moves like a fastball with more sink then fade from lefties.

7th: FB (88), SL (74-75)

8th: FB (87-91), SL (73-75), CU (80-83)

7) Francisco Rodriguez: 46 pitches. 8 strikes swinging. 2 on Fastballs (9th), 2 on Curveballs (9th), 4 on Changeups (2 in 9th, 2 in 10th

• K-Rod came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with late run in on righties with sink, a change that moves like a fastball with excellent late fade from lefties and a sharp 12-6 curve with excellent depth.

9th: FB (92-95), CB (79-82), CU (84-88)

10th: FB (92-94), CB (81), CU (83-87)

Chart Observations: BAL @ LAA

1) Jeremy Guthrie: 112 pitches. 7 strikes swinging. 3 on Fastballs (1st, 2 in 6th), 3 on Sliders (2nd, 3rd, 6th), Changeup (5th)

• Guthrie is a 6-1, 195 pound righty. The 30 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has some armside run. His slider is a 2-7 with good bite. His changeup has some fade to lefties and a little sink. His curve is a 12-6 with good depth. He will throw his change to righties. He will drop down sidearm to throw fastballs with 2 strikes against lefties. I think he is a # 3 starter and should be one who pitches a lot better if he can get out of the AL East.

1st: FB (88-92), SL (81-83), CU (82)

2nd: FB (90-93), SL (83-84), CU (82-83), CB (71)

3rd: FB (90-93), SL (83), CU (84-85), CB (71-72)

4th: FB (89-93), SL (81-82), CU (83), CB (72-73)

5th: FB (88-94), SL (82-85), CU (84-86), CB (72)

6th: FB (90-94), SL (81-83), CU (83), CB (72-73)

7th: FB (90-92), SL (81-84)

2) John Lackey: 114 pitches. 11 strikes swinging. Fastball (5th), 7 on Sliders (3 in 5th, 6th, 3 in 8th), 3 on Curveballs (3rd, 4th, 7th)

• Lackey is a 6-6, 245 pound righty. The 29 year old has a big frame that is maxed out. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has above average armside run and a little sink. His curve is a 12-6 offering with good depth. His slider is a sharp 1-7 with good bite. His change has good fade from lefties with some sink. He can throw the curveball for strikes or bury it and it served as his out pitch early on. He is still a # 2 starter regardless of the stats and looks to make a lot of money this offseason.

1st: FB (91-93)

2nd: FB (90-93), SL (83), CB (79-82)

3rd: FB (91-93), SL (82-84), CB (78-82), CU (83-84)

4th: FB (91-93), CB (79-82), CU (85)

5th: FB (90-92), SL (81-83), CB (77-82)

6th: FB (89-92), SL (80-82), CB (77-79)

7th: FB (90-92), SL (83), CB (76-77)

8th: FB (90-92), SL (79-82), CB (77-81)

3) Chris Ray: 13 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Ray is a 6-3, 225 pound righty. The 27 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He is a little herky jerky from a sidearm release. His fastball has good armside run and his slider is a 3-8 pitch with good bite. Looks to still be a solid middle relief option, but not the setup man or closer he once flashed being.

8th: FB (93-95), SL (84-86)

4) Brian Fuentes: 8 pitches. 0 strikes swinging

• Fuentes came from a low 3/4, almost sidearm release and is a slinger. His fastball has some gloveside run and his slider is a slurvy 10-4 with good bite.

9th: FB (89-91), SL (75)

IronPigs Observations

We live about 5 minutes from the Phillies AAA team, so I will file some reports on them on occasion. This was my 2nd time there and my 1st was a bust (thought we would see Carrasco, saw Kendrick, awesome). Luckily, this time we got to see Carrasco and I will also give you a note on the Indian we saw oppose Kendrick from last outing.

THE PROSPECT: CARRASCO, Carlos (R/R)

Age: 3/21/87 = 22 years old

Build: 6-3, 215. Big frame that is maxed out. Very big thighs.

Delivery: Very quite delivery with hands going over his head. A little hitch from both the wind and stretch that he has to keep his weight back.

Stuff: FB, CB, SL, CU. Fastball has some armside run that he has above average command of. His curveball is a 1-7 pitch with pretty good depth that he had solid command for and is a slightly above average pitch. His slider is tight with good bite and should be a solid major league offering. His change is his breadwinner and it showed good sink and fade from righties, but may be a tad overhyped, as I think it is just slightly above average. Overall, he has above average command and was locating and keeping the ball down.

1st Inning: FB (86-92), CU (80)

Settled In: FB (88-92), SL (80-85), CB (76-79), CU (80-84)

Touched 93 and 94 once.

Outlook: Carrasco is big league ready. He has had some struggles in AAA, but there isn't much else he can learn here. What you see with him is what you get, a solid pitcher, but not a great one. His upside is that of a # 3 starter and he is probably a # 4 or 5 right now. He just needs to tighten his off speed stuff a little more and continue to develop his command.

THE PROSPECT: BALESTER, Collin (R/R)

Age: 6/6/86 = 23 years old

Build: 6-5, 200. Big frame that can add a lot more muscle and should be able to get up to atleast 235. Twig like right now and no way he could handle the rigors of starting every day in the majors and stay healthy.

Delivery: Clean windup where he only moves his hands when he kicks his leg. Doesn't look like he is comfortable doing it, but repeats it well.

Stuff: FB, CB, CU. His fastball has some run in on righties, but he left it up in this outing. They were getting great contact and were squaring it up with no problem. His curveball is his go-to offering and is a sharp 11-5 (from our angle, 1-7 to him). It has great bite and can be a knee-buckler when right. It is his out pitch, but doesn't appear to have full confidence in it. He will guide it on occasion and was scared to bounce it with runners on 3rd. He chose instead to throw fastballs, which were hit. His change is a distant 3rd offering and has some fade from lefties with sink. He will need to either develop the change more or learn a slider to remain a starter. He has good control, but needs to improve his command and the quality of strikes he throws.

1st Inning: FB (87-92), CB (73-76)

Settled In: FB (89-91), CB (71-79), CU (79-83)

Touched 92 once.

Outlook: If Carrasco is a finished product, Balester is your project. Balester has all the tools to be a # 2 starter, but his more likely potential would have him be a # 3 or # 4 starter. Balester should be able to add a couple of ticks to his fastball and sit in the low 90's if he can add some more weight to his frame. However, the guy is now 23 and has pitched in the big leagues, so you have to wonder if he will continue to get stronger. I give him about a 5 % chance of being a # 2, but a 75 % chance at being a major league starting pitcher. You will likely see him in September.

I will post my observations from my 2 charts from today after I return from our baseball game.

Chart Observations: CHW @ CLE

1) Jose Contreras: 110 pitches. 11 strikes swinging. Fastball (2nd), 2 Sliders (7th, 8th) and 8 Splitters (1st, 3rd, 3 in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th)

• Contreras is a 37 year old who stands 6-4, 255. The righty has a big frame that is maxed out with some bad weight. He comes from a high 3/4 release with a fastball with some run in on righties with some sink. His split has excellent dive and can look like a curveball at times. His slider is 2-7 with good bite. Splitter is his out pitch and if he gets 2 strikes on you, he will throw it. He will drop down sidearm to throw any of his pitches in any count and appears to be done at random. Will throw a rare straight change with some fade from lefties.

1st: FB (90-93), SL (83-86), Split (78-80)

2nd: FB (92-94), SL (84-86), Split (79-80)

3rd: FB (91-93), SL (83-86), Split (77-78)

4th: SL (81-87), Split (77-80)

5th: FB (92-93), SL (83-87), Split (78-80)

6th: FB (91-95), SL (82-85), Split (77-80)

7th: FB (90-94), SL (80-86), Split (77-78)

8th: FB (91-93), SL (82-84), Split (77-78), CU (81)

2) Jeremy Sowers: 79 pitches. 3 strikes swinging. Fastball (1st), 2 Sliders (1st, 4th)

• Sowers is a 26 year old who stands 6-1, 180. The lefty has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. He has some weird arm action where his arm is somewhat rubbery and moves around quite a bit on the backtake and going forward, whiplike. He comes from a high 3/4 release. His fastball has some run in on righties. His slider has good bite and is a 10-4 offering. His change is a straight change with a little sink. He needs to throw his off-speed stuff more, as he no longer has a plus fastball.

1st: FB (86-91), SL (77-80), CU (81)

2nd: FB (87-91)

3rd: FB (87-91)

4th: FB (87-92), SL (79)

5th: FB (88-90), SL (79), CU (81-82)

6th: FB (88-92), SL (80-82), CU (79-82)

3) Jose Veras: 16 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Veras is a 6-5, 235 pound righty. The 28 year old has a big frame that is maxed out. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has some armside run and a little sink. His splitter has some dive. His curve is a big breaking 12-6 pitch with good depth. There is a little herky-jerky in his windup and can be extremely inconsistent with his release points (anywhere from over the top to 3/4) and may help explain his command issues.

7th: FB (94-95), CB (78-80), Split (81)

4) Rafael Perez: 5 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Perez is a 6-3, 195 pound lefty. The 27 year old has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. He comes from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam and he also throws a sharp 11-4 slider with solid bite. He has lost any semblance of command and there isn't anything glaring mechanically. You have to wonder if it is in his head now.

7th: FB (91-92), SL (86-87)

5) Joe Smith: 14 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. 2 Sliders (8th)

• Smith is a 6-2, 205 pound righty. The 25 year old has a medium frame that can add a little bit more muscle. He is a sidearmer. His fastball has good armside run and some sink. His slider is a 3-8 offering with good bite. I tend to like sidearmers and Smith is no exception.

7th: FB (91), SL (81-83)

8th: FB (90), SL (79-83)

6) Kerry Wood: 10 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Wood is a 6-5, 210 pound righty. The 32 year old has a big frame that can add more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. His cutter has good cut. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curve is a power 12-6 with good depth. Can battle his command at times, but not in this outing.

9th: FB (95-96), Cut (90-91), CB (81)

7) Matt Thornton: 24 pitches. 5 strikes swinging. 4 on Fastballs, Cutter

• Thornton comes from a high 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball and a somewhat loopy 10-4 slider with okay bite. He has also added a cutter (just like every other White Sox pitcher) and it has solid cut that he seems to locate fairly well.

9th: FB (96-98), Cut (89-92), SL (85)

Chart Observations: LAA @ TEX

1) Jered Weaver: 96 pitches. 8 strikes swinging. 4 on Fastballs (1st, 4th, 5th, 6th), 2 on Sliders (1st, 6th) and 2 on Changeups (5th, 6th).

• Weaver is a 6-7, 205 pound righty. The 26 year old has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. He has a fairly violent delivery after his break with a little head jerk and an arm action that appears to put a lot of pressure on his shoulder. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes a little late run in on righties and gets some natural sink due to him generating a good downhill plane for his pitches. His slider is a 2-7 with good bite that flashes plus bite. He will be like his borther and drop down sidearm to throw frisbee sliders. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 with good depth. His change has some fade from lefties and he will throw the pitch to righties. Was FB-SL with some CB's the first time through the order and then began to be more FB-CU the 2nd time through. I am unimpressed with his change and don't think it is good enough to be thrown as much as he does. Solid middle of the rotation starter, but looks to be pitching a little over his head right now.

1st: FB (88-92), SL (78-79)

2nd: FB (88-91), SL (75-81), CB (71), CU (80)

3rd: FB (86-90), SL (80), CB (72), CU (80-82)

4th: FB (87-90), CU (79-81)

5th: FB (88-92), SL (78), CB (74), CU (79)

6th: FB (88-90), SL (77-79), CB (70-73), CU (78-81)

2) Kevin Millwood: 104 pitches. 7 strikes swinging. 3 on Fastballs (2nd, 3rd, 5th), Slider (5th) and 3 on Curveballs (1st, 2nd, 5th)

• Millwood is a 6-4, 230 pound righty. The 34 year old has a big frame that is maxed out. He comes from an over the top release. He showed a change with some fade from lefties and a little sink. His slider is a 1-7 pitch with good bite. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 with good depth. He throws both a straight 4-seam fastball and a 2-seam with some run in on righties and good sink and is his primary fastball. His curveball served as his out pitch and his slider flashed plus with excellent bite. He preferred to throw sliders in on lefties rather than throw changeups away. Another guy I view as a middle of the rotation starter and would probably be a # 2 if he got out of Texas for a year or two.

1st: FB (87-89), SL (83-84), CB (71), CU (79)

2nd: FB (88-91), SL (82-83), CB (72-73)

3rd: FB (87-90), SL (82-85), CB (71), CU (82-84)

4th: FB (88-90), SL (83-85)

5th: FB (89-91), SL (83-85), CB (71-74)

6th: FB (87-91), SL (84-85)

7th: FB (87-90), SL (84-86), CB (68)

3) Kevin Jepsen: 9 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Jepsen comes from an over the top release with a 4-seam fastball with some run in on righties, a cutter with good cut that can flash 2-7 slider movement and a power 12-6 curve. This appeared to be the 1st outing he showed his cutter.

6th: FB (95-97), CB (83-84), Cut (92-93)

4) Matt Palmer: 26 pitches. 4 strikes swinging. 2 on Curveballs (8th) and 2 on Cutters (8th)

• Palmer is back in the pen and did not pick up velocity as so many other have. He comes from a high 3/4 with a 2-seam fastball that has good run in on righties, a big breaking 12-6 curve with good depth, a cutter with good cut and he will drop down sidearm to throw curves. Used the curveball as his out pitch.

7th: FB (88-90), Cut (88), CB (74)

8th: FB (88-90), Cut (87-88), CB (71-75)

5) Darren O'Day: 12 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Slider

• O'Day is a sidearming, almost submarine righty who showed a fastball with good run in on righties and a 9-4 slider with good bite.

7th: FB (83-84), SL (76-77)

6) C.J. Wilson: 4 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs, Slider, Cutter

• Wilison came from a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties, a sharp 10-4 slider with good late bite and a cutter that moves similar to his slider, but at a higher velocity.

8th: FB (92-95), SL (83-85), Cut (88-90)

7) Frank Francisco: 2 strikes swinging. Fastball, Splitter

• Francisco came from an over the top, almost high 3/4 release. His fastball has some run in on righties and some late sink. His curve is a sharp 12-6 with good depth. His fastball can flatten out and be dead straight. His split had okay dive and wasn't as good as I had seen it previously. He can throw a bad split that can resemble a slider. He really battled his command.

9th: FB (91-95), CB (80), Split (85-87)

8) Justin Speier: 15 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Speier came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some armside run, a sharp 2-7 slider with good bite or could just be a spinner and a splitter with solid dive.

9th: FB (87-90), SL (84-87), Split (81)