Chart Observations: SEA @ LAA

• Felix Hernandez is a 23 year old standing 6-3, 225. The right hander has a medium to big frame that still has room to add more muscle. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His changeup shows average fade and a little sink. His fastball is a 2-seam with good fade and sink. He will also mix in a straight 4-seam. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with good depth. His curveball is a 12-6 offering with great bite and drops off the table. Still an ace.

1st: FB (93-97), CU (88), SL (86-89)

2nd: FB (94-96), CU (87-89), SL (87-88), CB (82-83)

3rd: FB (92-95), CU (87-89), SL (87-90)

4th: FB (94-95), CU (88-90)

5th: FB (94-95), CU (90), CB (85)

6th: FB (93-96), CU (88-90), SL (88-89), CB (86)

7th: FB (93-96), CU (88-90), SL (86), CB (85)

• Matt Palmer, a 6-2 225 pound 30 year old, opposed him. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seam with above average fade and a little sink. His cutter is his main fastaball and it shows solid cut. He has tremendous command of this pitch and can start it on the outside corner at will. His curveball is a sharp 1-8 offering that shows good bite and can be a strikeout pitch. His change moves similar to his 2-seam with above average fade and some sink. Was FB-CB the 1st time through the order, and then worked the cutter-CB combo with the occasional 2-seam. Solid back of the rotation starter due to his plus command of slightly above average stuff.

1st: FB (88-90), Cut (87-90), CB (73-76)

2nd: FB (88-90), Cut (88-89), CB (75-76), CU (83)

3rd: FB (88-89), Cut (87-89), CB (74-75), CU (82-84)

4th: FB (87-89), Cut (85-88), CB (72-75)

5th: FB (88-89), Cut (86-87), CB (76)

6th: FB (88-89), Cut (86-87), CB (73-77), CU (82)

7th: FB (86-88), Cut (86-87), CB (75-76), CU (83)

• Mark Lowe is a 25 year old reliever standing 6-3, 210. The right hander has a medium to big frame that still has room to add more muscle. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes fade. His slider is a 2-7 pitch with solid depth and is an above average offering. Lowe has the upside of a closer, though he is more likely to settle in as a set-up man.

7th: FB (96-98), SL (85)

• Darren Oliver is a 38 year old who stands 6-2, 200. The lefty has a medium frame that is maxed out and comes at you from a 3/4 release. His slider is a slurvy 10-4 offering with good depth and looks like a fastball out of his hand. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. Good reliever to have in a pen that can fill a multitude of roles (long, LOOGY, short spurts)

8th: FB (89-91), SL (77-78)

• Brandon Morrow is a 24 year old who stands 6-3, 195. The righty has a medium to big frame that has room to add another 10-15 pounds of muscle. He comes at you from an over the top release. His change will flash great fade and a little sink, but it can be inconsistent. His fastball is a dead straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 offering that flashes plus, but is also inconsistent. Morrow needs to gain consistency to reach his ceiling as a closer.

8th: FB (93-96), CU (88-89), CB (81)

• Brian Fuentes is a 38 year old who stands 6-4, 230. The left hander has a big frame that is maxed out and attacks from a sidearm release with a little bit of cocking action. His changeup has good sinking action and some run. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. He struggled to command his change, having it go armside and high almost every time. He got blooped and then blasted by Jose Lopez. Good set-up man, but he doesn't strike out enough guys for me to be comfortable with him as a closer.

9th: FB (89-91), CU (72-74)

• Miguel Batista is a 38 year old who stands 6-1, 210. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade and good sink. His cutter has decent cut and some sink. His split showed great dive and fade. May have been wrong on him and he can indeed be a reliable reliever for a contender, though I still wouldn't have him setup.

9th: FB (85-92), Cut (84-85), Split (85)

• Jose Arredondo is a 25 year old who stands 6-1, 205. The right hander has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. His fastball has some fade and a little sink from an over the top release. His splitter is erratic in both break and command, but it flashes as plus with great dive and fade. Still think he is a future closer, but he is not yet ready and needs to refine his splitter.

10th: FB (90-94), Split (81-86)

• David Aardsma is a 27 year old who stands 6-4, 205. The righty has a big frame that can add more muscle. He attacks from an over the top release with some cocking action. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good depth. His splitter showed good dive and fade. He may be able to close, as he hasn't shown many of his old command issues when I have seen him.

10th: FB (93-95), SL (84), Split (89)

Stay tuned for my chart observations on the Rays-Twins, featuring the 11 strikeout performance of David Price. I will take care of that after I return from my baseball game tonight.

SEA vs. TEX

Yes, I had the same teams for a score 2 days in a row and got to watch them end in exciting fashions.

• Felix Hernandez started for the Mariners and didn't have his best stuff. The Rangers failed to get on him early and he settled in very well. His fastball sat at 88-94 (and was only 90-92 most of the time), a changeup at 84-89, a slider at 81-86 and a curveball at 80-83. No changes on my thinking of him, potential to be best starter in baseball.
• Matt Harrison opposed him and made me look like an idiot. As soon as you think someone is a borderline major league pitcher, they make some adjustments and turn a corner and Harrison has done that. Harrison, from a 3/4 release, has sped up his wind-up and is pitching with much better tempo, something that has been a staple of Mark Buehrle for years. He also is showing a new willingness to both pitch inside and throw offspeed stuff when behind in the count. Harrison's fastball sat at 87-93, his changeup was 77-81, his slider was 76-83, his curveball was 73-75 and I believe he has added a cutter, which was 83-86. He also showed plus command. If he can maintain this plus command, he is a solid # 3 starter. If not, back to back-of-the rotation starter. My money is now on him to be a # 3 starter. Mike Maddux has done wonders for those starters.
• David Aardsma was 90-93 with his fastball and threw a slider at 81 and a splitter at 86.
• Brandon Morrow blew another save in big fashion (allowed about a 460 foot shot by Hank Blalock followed by a 415 foot shot by Chris Davis that drove in the other 2 runs). He still has great stuff, but he only throws his fastball. His fastball was 93-96 and doesn't have the movement or command of it to be as effective as other fastball-happy closers, like a Jonathan Papelbon. Morrow shows good off-speed stuff but can't throw them for strikes and so they aren't called. His catchers will need to call more off-speed stuff or this will continue to occur.
• Wladimir Balentien, a 6-2 220 pound 24 year old, has a medium to large frame that can add on a little bit more muscle. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle and he utilizes a toe turn.. He currently has average power, but should get some more as he continues to develop his frame. He shows the ability to hit to all fields. Solid, major league average starting corner outfielder.
• David Murphy, a 6-4 205 pound 27 year old, has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He has a slightly open stance, but is hunched over a little bit. He has a fairly long swing, so he must cheat to hit fastballs. He has average speed. He is a guy who is a 4th OF who can't play CF and doesn't have great power. He is someone that may be finding his usefulness in the majors coming to a close. I think his upside is that of a 4th OF.
• Taylor Teagarden, a 6-1 200 pound 25 year old, has a medium frame with room to add more muscle, especially to his lower half. He has a fairly straight-up stance and brings his hands forward and back as part of his trigger. This causes his swing to lengthen at times, but allows him to generate a little more pop. Teagarden is an interesting guy, as he has failed to hit for average for quite awhile now. He is a quality catch and throw guy and does a good job blocking balls. He may follow in the path of another former top prospect in the AL West, Jeff Mathis, but provide more power.

SEA vs. TEX

• Jarrod Washburn started for the Mariners and featured his 5 pitch mix of a fastball at 84-89, a cutter at 84-87, a changeup at 77-84 (2nd most thrown pitch), a slider at 74-80 that he used to lefties and righties to get ahead or put away and a curveball at 66-68 that he threw on the 1st pitch to get a cheap strike. No change on my opinion of him, but the lack of velocity on his fastball is concerning.
• Brandon McCarthy opposed him and he disappointed me. He has lost a lot of fastball velocity since he was a reliever for the White Sox. McCarthy showed a fastball at 87-90, a hard curveball from 76-81, a soft curveball from 72-75 and a changeup at 76-79. McCarthy's curveball is plus, but it isn't a strikeout pitch. His fastball is merely average and his changeup is a tick above average. If he can throw strikes with the curveball, he can be a middle of the rotation starter. If he doesn't, he is a back-end starter at best. He attacks hitters from straight over the top and showed above average command of all his pitches tonight.
• David Aardsma was 91-95 with his fastball and threw one slider at 81 that hung. His fastball is plus, but you have to wonder how long he can get away with it being his only pitch.
• Eddie Guardado is done in my opinion. Tonight, he was 84-86 with his fastball, 76-79 with his slider and threw a changeup at 77. Having 3 lefties (Guardado, Wilson and Derek Holland) is a luxury that this team needs to correct, especially since Guardado has had struggles this season.
• Darren O'Day is a side-arming, ground ball forcing right hander who has been phenomenal since coming over. He sat at 84-86 with his fastball and his slider was 76-77. He looks like a legitimate major league ROOGY (and even struck out Russell Branyan). It appears the Mets allowed another one to get away. I think he profiles very well as a right handed middle reliever, with his main role being to get out tough righties or to get double plays.
• Sean White showed a fastball at 90-92, an average slider at 83-86 and a plus changeup at 80-82. He needs to throw the change more, as this was his best off-speed pitch in my opinion. He may be getting the message, as he used it to strike out Marlon Byrd, a right hander.
• C.J. Wilson was in line to take the loss before Brandon Morrow's struggles, but he pitched well. He showcased a fastball at 91-93, a slider at 81-86 and a changeup at 83-85. He was over exposed as a closer, but he is a quality setup guy, as his fastball velocity is plus. His slider and changeup are both a tick above average. He showed strong command tonight as well.
• Garrett Olson made an appearance tonight and was in line to get the win. Olson attacked hitters with a fastball at 87-90, a curveball at 79-80 that moves more like a slider and a changeup at 80-82. Olson definitely doesn't have the stuff to be a starter and I don't think he has the stuff to be better then a long reliever/mop-up guy. He needs to further refine his command and his off-speed offerings.
• Brandon Morrow took the loss after allowing a shot to Hank Blalock that I thought was gone off the bat. He showed a plus fastball at 94-98 and plus curveball at 83-84. He should have had Josh Hamilton struck out looking on a great curveball, but the home plate umpire couldn't pull the trigger. He has great potential, but his command has a ways to go until you can feel confident when he is out there. Right now, every save will be an adventure.
• Elvis Andrus is a 20 year old who stands 6-0, 185 pounds. He has a medium frame with the room to add quite a bit more muscle, probably at least 10 pounds. He features a fairly straight up stance and holds the bat above his shoulder at a 45 degree angle. He shows a little bat wiggle. He seems to bring all his weight forward when he strides, limiting the time to make a decision to swing or not. He is a very aggressive hitter. He is a special fielder, one with great hands and an above average accurate arm. He has plus range to his right. He is a plus runner with borderline 75 speed. His worst case scenario in my opinion is a career like Omar Vizquel's, as he is close to the same class of fielder potentially. Best case? He is 20 and playing in the majors. The sky is the limit for this kid, though he will likely never be more then a 20 home run guy.

Tomorrow I have an extra chart and will see the same 2 teams again with a match-up of Felix Hernandez and Matt Harrison.

SEA @ MIN

Yes, I have seen a lot of Seattle this weekend. And yes, it really wasn't that enjoyable.

• Erik Bedard got the start for Seattle and battled himself. He only had 2 pitches (a fastball at 88-93 and a curveball at 75-80) and didn't throw his changeup or cutter at all in my eyes. He also has much better command of his curveball then his fastball, as he seemed to be able to throw the curveball over the plate at will while struggling to find the zone with his heater. He is still a # 2 starter, but this is the 2nd start I have seen where he hasn't had real good command of his stuff. While he didn't allow many runs (just 2 ER in 4 and 2/3), he needs to pitch deeper into games to allow the bullpen to not be taxed. He attacks hitters from a low 3/4 release.
• Nick Blackburn opposed him and was very sharp. Blackburn is not a pitcher who will overwhelm you, but will play a little smoke and mirrors game, as he has plus command of all his pitches: a FB at 87-93, a cutter at 83-88 and a curveball at 74-78. He appears to have a plan for every hitter and executes it extremely well. The cutter in particular is the pitch that sets him apart from other finesse righthanders, as he can locate it and it cuts hard in to lefties and hard away from righties, rarely resulting in solid contact. He attacks from a high 3/4 release and is pitching at his ceiling now, a solid # 3 starter.
• Mark Lowe pitched a rare multi-inning outing and looked pretty good with a fastball sitting at 93-95, a changeup at 85-86 and a slider at 82-83. His stuff is still closer-worthy, his question is will the command return after that arm injury? If not, still a very strong late game reliever as a setup guy.
• Miguel Batista is a guy I don't really enjoy watching pitch and I have seen him a ton. Today, he was 92-93 with his fastball and 84-85 with his cutter. He has a rubber arm and is the Mariners go-to-pitcher in their bullpen. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing is up to you.
• Jose Mijares showed the same issues that have always been his bugaboo, an inability to consistenly throw strikes. He walked Jose Lopez (not an easy thing to do) and proceeded to allow a game tying 2-run home run to Ken Griffey Jr. Mijares was 89-93 with his fastball and did not throw his slider, curveball or changeup. He is a bigger guy who comes at you from a high 3/4 release that is almost overhead. I still don't know what to think of him. Part of me says that he can be a set-up man to get out righties and lefties and another side says that he won't throw enough strikes to be a major league reliever. This is a pivotal year for him.
• Jesse Crain took the loss after not recording an out in the 8th inning. From a high 3/4 release, Crain attacked hitters with a fastball at 90-94, a slider at 89 and a curveball at 75. Still a late inning reliever and he had one of those nights every pitcher has.
• Matt Guerrier came from a high 3/4 release with his fastball sitting at 91, his slider at 84-86 and his curveball at 79.
• David Aardsma saw his velocity down in his 2nd game on back to back days, but recovered to strike out Carlos Gomez on a 95 mile per hour fastball (Gomez never had a chance on any FB thrown in the AB). For his inning, he was siting 89-95 with the fastball (and 89-92 before the Gomez AB) and threw an 84 mile per hour slider. You have to worry about the loss of velocity he showed in this appearance after throwing last night.
• Craig Breslow was a LOOGY trying to get some work and show his command was back after struggling with walks thus far this season. Breslow showed good command, but hung a changeup to Jose Lopez, who deposited it in the seats. Breslow showed a fastball at 88-91, a slider at 84-85, a curveball at 72 and a changeup at 76-77 (only threw them to Lopez). Not sure what to think of him, as he is a pitcher that shouldn't be facing too many righties, but his changeup is effective enough to get them out. He is a major league pitcher, just depends on how much you trust him to get out the big left handed bats.
• Brandon Morrow made it exciting by temporarily losing his control and throwing 10 straight pitches up and in to righthanders. His fastball was plus from high 3/4 release, sitting at 93-97 while his slider was 86-87 and his curveball was 85. He has closer stuff and can be a rock in the late innings with his fastball, but these temporary command losses can't be happening, though it was his first game back from the DL. Chance to be a real special closer.
• Rob Johnson is a 26 year old, 6-1, 215 pound catcher. He has a medium frame with a slightly open stance. His game is devoted to the defensive side of the ball, as he shows a plus arm, frames pitches very well and is very able to block balls in the dirt. That being said, we are looking at a major league backup. He double triggers, stepping when the pitcher begins his wind-up and then takes a mini step with a little toe turn as the ball is about to be released. The Twins also exposed a weakness to sliders down (and sliders period), as he struck out 3 times swinging at sliders. Johnson is a better hitter then some catchers who have nailed down back-up jobs though and I think he is in the Henry Blanco type defensive mold (and sadly, might even be a little weaker offensively). If he improves his pitch recognition and can lay off sliders, he is a very useful back up catcher.
• I saw Matt Tolbert when I worked for Rochester and he is the same player. The 27 year old, 6-0, 185 pound infielder is a switch hitter with a medium frame that is maxed out. He has an athletic crouch in his stance with a little bat wiggle. He will never hit for much power and will be overexposed as a regular at 2B, but he does have a future as an utility infielder who may be able to spell at SS every once in awhile. He features the same stance on both sides of the plate and really accelerates his hands back as a trigger, almost as if he is cheating to hit a fastball. He is a very pesky 2-strike hitter and he understands his role, as he is very patient and hustles all over the field. A useful utility player, but will likely be over exposed as a full-time regular.
• Every fly ball to left field was an adventure for Wladimir Balentien. He struggled in the Metrodome (seriously, who has a white dome for a baseball team), but showed some offensive ability. I think he has 20 home run power (though his swing does have some holes) and should be able to hit for a solid average, anywhere from .260 to .280. The issue is that if the power doesn't manifest itself, he is a very average corner outfielder and with prospects like Greg Halman looking to force the issue (10 HR's in AA, though only a .217 average in 106 AB's), Balentien has a very short window to try and impress. If he doesn't hit, he doesn't have much value, as his speed and defense are average tools.