IronPigs Observations: 8/13 vs. Louisville

1. Michael Taylor is a 6-6, 260 pound 23 year old. The man child has a massive frame that is maxed out. He has a twitchy elbow and holds his hands close to him. His trigger is a lean back, cocking of the bat and a stride. His swing can get long at times, but he does have above average bat speed to help compensate for it. All fields raw power and is an average runner. He has an above average arm. He is either extremely slow getting out of the box or he dogs it down the line.
2. Drew Stubbs is a 6-4, 205 pound 24 year old. The center fielder has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He has a slightly open stance with a bat tap with a swing that can get long at times. He will bunt for hits and legged out a sac bunt with a time of 4.1 seconds.
3. Ben Jukich is a 26 year old lefty. The 6-5, 205 pound lefty has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle and is a long and lanky kid that is pretty skinny. He came from an over the top release, though he will drop down to 3/4 at times and has mechanics similar to those of Jamie Moyer. His fastball has a little sink and run in on lefties. His curve is a 11-5 with above average depth and will try to serve as his meal ticket. His slider is a 11-5 pitch with okay bite and his change has good fade from righties with solid sink. He has an average pick-off move. He pitched at 83-88 with his fastball, low 80's with his slider, 73-76 with the deuce and 78-81 with his change
4. Joe Savery is the guy we wanted to see and he is a 6-3, 215 pound left hander. The 23 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle and has a little bit of a squatty build. He came from an over the top release. His fastball has a little run in on lefties. His change has good fade from righties with a little sink and it looks like a fastball out of his hand. His slider is a 11-5 with solid bite, but it is loopy and he will hang the pitch. He pitched at 87-89 with his fastball, 76-81 with the slider and 74-76 with the changeup. Savery looks like a back-end guy and doesn't project to throw much harder. His slider is a below average pitch, while both his fastball and change are average.

Chart Observations: 8/13 WAS @ CIN

1) Bronson Arroyo: 103 pitches. 8 strikes swinging. Fastball (7th), Changeup (1st), 2 Curveballs (2nd, 8th), 2 Frisbee Sliders (3rd, 6th), 2 Sliders (7th, 8th)

• Arroyo came anywhere from a high 3/4 to sidearm release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties and a little sink, a change with good fade from lefties with good sink, a frisbee slider with good bite, a 1-7, 12-6 like curve with above average depth, a 2-7 slider with solid bite, a cutter with some cut and sink and even frisbee changeups. Arroyo will throw any pitch in any count and will add and subtract from all his offerings.

1st: FB (87-90), CU (76-84), FSL (69-75)

2nd: FB (86-90), CU (84), FSL (79), CB (69-72), SL (77)

3rd: FB (89-91), CU (79-80), FSL (74-78), CB (71), SL (77)

4th: FB (88-91), CU (83), FSL (71-76), CB (73)

5th: FB (87-91), FSL (76), SL (75)

6th: FB (89-91), CU (84), FSL (74-76), CB (76), Cut (87)

7th: FB (89-91), CU (79), FSL (75), CB (72), SL (77-79), Cut (85)

8th: FB (88-89), FSL (72-75), CB (68-70), SL (75-76)

9th: FB (88-90), CU (78-84), FSL (76)

2) Collin Balester: 73 pitches. 4 strikes swinging. 3 Fastballs (2 in 1st, 4th), Curveball (3rd).

• Balester came from an over the top release and showed a straight 4-seam fastball, a 2-seam that has some run in on righties with some sink, a pretty straight change with a touch of fade from lefties that he will throw to righties and a sharp 12-6 curve with slightly above average depth. Looks like a reliever to me, as he doesn't throw many changes and leaves his fastball in the middle of the plate quite often.

1st: FB (93-95), CB (77-79)

2nd: FB (92-94), CB (76-80)

3rd: FB (91-94), CB (78)

4th: FB (89-93), CB (75-78)

5th: FB (91-94), CB (77-78), CU (86-87)

3) Jason Bergmann: 23 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Slider.

• Bergmann came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties and good sink, a power 2-7 curve with solid depth and a 2-7 slider with a little bite that moves more like a cutter.

6th: FB (91-93), SL (84-88), CB (77-79)

4) Saul Rivera: 14 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Rivera is a 5-10, 175 pound righty. The 31 year old has a small frame that can add a little more muscle. His fastball has good run in on righties and solid sink from an over the top release. His change has some fade from lefties with sink. His slider is a 2-7 with good bite while his cutter has some cut. A pitcher that succeeds more with a vast repetoire then a dominant pitch, he may be on the downslope of his career.

7th: FB (89-90), SL (85-86), Cut (90), CU (84-86)

5) Mike MacDougal: 14 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Fastball.

• MacDougal came from a 3/4 release with a fastball with above average run in on righties and some sink and a 1-7 slider with good bite.

8th: FB (94-98), SL (86)

Chart Observations: 8/12 PHI @ CHC

1) Jeff Samardzija: 74 pitches. 6 strikes swinging. 3 Fastballs (1st, 2 in 3rd), 2 Splitters (both in 3rd), Slider (3rd)

• Samardzija came form a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties with good sink, a split with above average late dive when right, but can also be flat with little dive and is extremely inconsistent, a 2-7 slider with solid bite, though it isn't a big swing and miss pitch and a straight change.

1st: FB (93-96), SL (80-82), Split (83-85)

2nd: FB (91-94), SL (78)

3rd: FB (91-93), SL (79-82), Split (82-86), CU (86)

4th: FB (92-94), SL (78-82), Split (83-85)

2) Pedro Martinez: 99 pitches. 14 strikes swinging. 6 Fastballls (1st, 3 in 4th, 2 in 5th), 3 Cutters (1st, 2nd, 3rd), 5 Changeups (2 in 2nd, 2 in 4th, 5th)

• Pedro is a 5-11, 195 pound righty. The 37 year old has a small frame that won't be adding any more muscle. He came anywhere from high 3/4 to low 3/4. His fastabll has some run in on righties with a little sink and flashes above average movement. His change has good fade from lefties with solid sink that he will throw to righties and serves as his go-to pitch. His cutter has above average cut and can look like a slider at times and he will backdoor lefties with it. His curve is a 1-7 offering with average depth. Solid back end starter, though he is likely only going to give you 5 or 6 innings an outing.

1st: FB (87-92), CU (78-80), Cut (82-83)

2nd: FB (87-92), CU (77-80), Cut (81-84), CB (72-73)

3rd: FB (87-92), Cut (80-85), CB (74)

4th: FB (88-89), CU (77), Cut (78-79), CB (69-75)

5th: FB (86-92), CU (78), Cut (78-83), CB (73)

3) Sean Marshall: 84 pitches. 10 strikes swinging. Fastball (4th), 6 Curveballs (4th, 3 in 5th, 2 in 7th), 2 Cutters (4th, 5th), Slider (7th)

• Marshall came from a high 3/4 release and showed a 11-5 slider with some bite, a cutter with some cut and a little sink, a fastball with a little tailing action, a big breaking 11-5 curve with above average depth and a change with a little fade from righties that he will throw to lefties.

4th: FB (87-89), SL (82-85), CB (72-75), Cut (85-89)

5th: SL (81-82), CB (71-74), Cut (86-87), CU (82)

6th: SL (80-83), CB (71-73), Cut (86-87), CU (80)

7th: SL (80-84), CB (71-73), Cut (84-85)

4) Chan Ho Park: 26 pitches. 5 strikes swinging. 2 Curveballs (6th, 8th), Slider (8th), 2 Changeups (both in 8th)

• Park came from a high 3/4 release and showed a change with some fade from lefties with sink, a fastball with some run in on righties with sink, a 12-6 curve with average depth and a 2-7 slider with good bite. Will throw both get me over curveballs and out pitch curveballs.

6th: FB (89-91), CU (83), CB (80)

7th: FB (88-93), CB (73)

8th: FB (90-91), CU (80-86), CB (79), SL (85)

5) Aaron Heilman: 17 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Fastball (8th)

• Heilman came from a 3/4 release and showed a change with good fade from lefties with a little sink, a fastball with good run in on righties and a 2-7 slider with solid bite.

7th: FB (91-92), CU (81), SL (82)

8th: FB (91-93), CU (83), SL (82-83)

6) Carlos Marmol: 12 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Slider.

• Marmol came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties and a 3-8 slider with above average bite.

9th: FB (93-94), SL (82-85)

7) Chad Durbin: 16 pitches. 1 strike swinging. Cutter.

• Durbin came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with a little run in on righties, a change with a little fade from lefties and some sink that he will throw to righties and a cutter with some cut and sink.

9th: FB (87-90), Cut (87), CU (81-84)

8/12: OAK @ BAL

1) Jason Berken: 86 pitches. 8 strikes swinging. Fastball (1st), Slider (1st), 3 Changeups (1st, 3rd, 4th), 3 Curveballs (all in 3rd)

• Berken came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with a little run in on righties, a 2-7 slider with some bite, a change with some fade from lefties with sink and a 12-6 curve with below average depth.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (81-84), CU (83-84)

2nd: FB (91-94), CU (84-85), CB (79-81)

3rd: FB (90-95), SL (84), CU (84-85), CB (78-80)

4th: FB (91-92), CU (83-85), CB (77-78)

5th: FB (89-92), SL (83), CU (82)

2) Vin Mazzaro: 85 pitches. 6 strikes swinging. 5 Fastballs (3 in 1st, 2 in 3rd), Slider (1st)

• Mazzar came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some late run in on righties and some sink, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with above average sink and solid fade from lefties.

1st: FB (91-94), SL (84-85), CU (83)

2nd: FB (87-92), SL (83-85)

3rd: FB (89-94), SL (84-88)

4th: FB (90-94), SL (80-85)

5th: FB (88-92), SL (85)

6th: FB (88-92), SL (84-85), CU (82)

3) Brian Bass: 28 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Bass came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties with sink and a 12-6 curve with average depth, as well as a 2-7 slider with okay bite.

6th: FB (90-92), CB (76-78)

7th: FB (90-92), CB (76-78), SL (85)

4) Craig Breslow: 23 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs (both in 7th)

• Breslow came from a high 3/4 release and showed a change with some fade from righties with sink, a fastball with a little run in on lefties and a 11-5 slider with good bite.

6th: FB (90-92), SL (85), CU (77)

7th: FB (88-94), SL (85-86), CU (76)

5) Michael Wuertz: 14 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Wuertz came from an over the top release and showed af astball with a little run in on righties and a touch of sink and a sharp 1-7 slider with good late bite that he will throw in any count.

8th: FB (91-93), SL (85-86)

6) Mark Hendrickson: 10 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Hendrickson came from a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on lefties, a 11-5 curve with slightly above average depth and a change with some fade from righties with sink.

8th: FB (87-90), CB (73), CU (81)

7) Cla Meredith: 13 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs.

• Meredith came from a sidearm release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties with good sink and a 3-8 slider with solid bite.

9th: FB (84-85), SL (78-80)

8) Andrew Bailey: 9 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.

• Bailey came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with a little late cut action and a cutter with above average cut.

9th: FB (93-96), Cut (88-89)