6/6: 42 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. Fastball, Slider.
- Benson is a 6-4, 205 pound righty. The 34 year old has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle and looks the exact same as when he was drafted. He came from an over the top release with pretty clean mechanics. His fastball has a little run in on righties. His cutter has some cut, but can straighten out. His change has good sink and some fade from lefties that he will throw to righties. His slider is 2-7 with some bite. Benson looked done and none of his pitches were very good.
5th: FB (92)
6th: FB (91-92), Cut (84-86), CU (82-83), SL (84-86)
7th: FB (90-93), Cut (84-86), CU (82-84), SL (84-85) - FB, SL
2) Willie Eyre: FB, SL, CU, Cut
9/5: 14 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.
- Eyre is a 6-2, 205 pound righty. The 31 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out with a thick lower half. He came from an over the top release with fairly clean mechanics and no real red flags. His fastball has some run in on righties and some sink. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with some bite, but not a real big breaker and he will throw it 3-2. Looks like he could be a solid middle reliever, but the lack of bite in his slider will make it hard for him to be solid all season.
8th: FB (93-95), SL (82-86)
3) Warner Madrigal: FB, SL, Split
6/2: 39 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs.
- Madrigal is a 6-0, 200 pound righty. The 25 year old has a small frame that can add a little more muscle in the upper body. Squatty build. He came from an over the top release in a classic drop and drive delivery with no real red flags, though it is a high effort delivery. He will both slide step and leg kick at any time to mess with a hitter's timing. His fastball is a pretty straight 4-seam that can flash some run in on righties and flash some sink. His split has some diving action. His slider is a 2-7 with a little bite. He can battle his command at times, primarily of his fastball. He is young to pitching, but I usually like to see a higher velocity fastball from convertees, as it is usually difficult for them to find a consistent off-speed offering. I think Madrigal will wind up being a classic 4-A guy. He needs to really tighten his slider and improve his strike throwing ability.
6th: FB (89-94), SL (76-86), Split (79-82) - 2 FB
4) Brandon McCarthy: FB, SL, CU, CB
5/24: 124 pitches. 7 strikes swinging. 3 Sliders, 2 Fastballs, Curveball, Changeup.
- McCarthy is a 6-7, 200 pound righty. The 26 year old has a big frame that is real long and lanky and extremely skinny. He can get up to at least 215 comfortably if he so chooses. He looks like a twig out there. His mechanics appear to put extra pressure on his shoulder, as he really over rotates that shoulder and has a moderate head jerk. It looks like his arm is playing catch-up to the rest of his body. Max effort delivery that has me question if he can ever get through a season fully healthy as a starter. He came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with good natural sink due to him generating a good downhill plane for his pitches and some run in on righties. His "slider" is really just a power 12-6 sharp curve with above average depth. He can over throw it at times and he has the confidence to throw it for strikes. His change looks like a fastball out of his hand and has some fade from lefties and some sink. His curve is a 12-6 that isn't as sharp or as hard, but has plus depth. The curve appears to be his out pitch and he has good enough command of the pitch to throw it for strikes or bounce it at will. McCarthy looks like he should be a solid # 3 or # 4 starter when he pitches, but I would never count on anything more then 20 starts out of him.
1st: FB (88-90)
2nd: FB (89-91), SL (80-82), CB (76-77), CU (77-79) - CU
3rd: FB (88-92), SL (81-82), CB (78) - CB
4th: FB (88-90), CB (75-76), CU (78) - FB
5th: FB (89-92), SL (80-81), CB (75) - FB
6th: FB (88-91), SL (79-81), CB (77), CU (77) - SL
7th: FB (86-92), SL (79-81), CB (73-76) - SL
8th: FB (87-91), SL (80-81), CB (75)
9th: FB (87-90), SL (78-81), CB (74) - SL
5) Luis Mendoza: FB, SL, CB, CU
5/2: 22 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.
- Mendoza is a 6-3, 210 pound righty. The 25 year old has a medium frame that appears to be close to maxed out, can add a little more muscle to his lower half. Athletically built guy. He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a little cocking action when the arm is at the bottom of the arm circle, but nothing too serious. His fastball has some run in on righties and a little sink. His change is a straight change that isn't very good. His curve is a power 1-7 offering with slightly above average depth. He appears to have the stuff to be a solid middle reliever, though he should only face the occasional lefty.
6th: FB (90-93), CU (86), CB (77-80)
6) Guillermo Moscoso: FB, CB, CU
6/13: 14 pitches. 0 strikes swinging.
- Moscoso is a 6-1, 165 pound righty. The 25 year old has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle, though he does look to be about 175 or 185 as opposed to 165. He can add muscle to both his lower and upper body and has an athletic build. Classic drop and drive delivery where he lands hard on his front leg and kind of kicks it out. He came from a high 3/4 release. His fastball has a little run in on righties. His curve is a flat 2-7 with below average depth that really doesn't do much. He has a tendency to lose it to his armside, flattening it out even more. He was fairly unimpressive in this outing, but could project into a solid middle reliever if he can sit in the 92-94 range with his fastball.
9th: FB (90-92), CB (78-80)
7) Josh Rupe: FB, SL, CU, CB
4/10: 38 pitches. 2 strikes swinging. Fastball, Slider.
- Rupe is a 6-2, 210 pound righty. The 27 year old has a medium frame that can add muscle to get up to about 220 if he so desires. He has a real thin lower half with small thighs that shows a lot of room to add muscle. He came from a high 3/4 release with a cocking arm action and is a slinger. He is another Rangers pitcher that does the kick out thing with his front leg. His slider is a 2-7 pitch with solid bite. His fastball has good run in on righties and some sink. He does not have good command of his fastball. His curve is a 12-6 offering with above average depth. His change has some fade from lefties and some sink. He has the stuff to be a big league reliever in the mold of a Doug Mathis, he just does not have the command.
7th: FB (88-92), SL (84-85), CB (70-73) - FB, SL
8th: FB (88-91), SL (82-83), CB (68-71), CU (78)
