PHI @ TB

1) David Price: 88 pitches, 4 Strike Swingings. All on Fastballs. 3 in 1st Inning, 1 in 3rd Inning

• He came from a high 3/4 release and showed a straight 4-seam fastball, a sharp
  11-5 slider that had good bite, an 11-5 curveball that was a big breaker and a
  straight change that flashes sink. He was leaving his slider up (and it
  flattened out) and his fastball didn't have its typical oomph. His defense
  also let him down.

1st: FB (91-94), SL (85-88), CB (81), CU (84-85)

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

3rd: FB (91-93), SL (86), CB (75-79)

4th: FB (91-93), SL (82-87)

5th: FB (89-93), SL (83-87)

2) Jamie Moyer: 101 pitches. 6 Strikes Swinging. 5 on Fastballs (1 in 2nd, 3 in 4th, 1 in 5th) and 1 on a changeup (2nd)

• He came from a high 3/4, almost over the top release with a fastball that is a 2-seam with good fade and sink, a big breaking 12-6 curve with good depth, a change with some fade and sink and a cutter that is a slider like 11-4 pitch.

1st: FB (80-81), CB (68-69), CU (74)

2nd: FB (81), CU (73-74)

3rd: FB (79-82), CB (67-69), CU (73-75), Cut (78)

4th: FB (79-81), CB (68-69), CU (73-75), Cut (76-78)

5th: FB (78-81), CU (72-74), Cut (77-78)

6th: FB (78-80), CB (66-68), CU (72-73), Cut (76)

3) Winston Abreu: 41 pitches. 6 Strikes Swinging. 5 on Sliders (4 in 5th, 1 in 6th) and 1 on a fastball (7th)

• He is a 6-2, 170 pound righty. The 32 year old has a medium frame that can add more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. He leans back and goes forward and goes up in the air a little bit with a drop and drive. Windmill like action. His slider is a 1-7 pitch with solid bite, though it can flatten out or be very sharp. His fastball is a straight 4-seam and his change is a straight offering. He has good command of his slider, but struggles to command his other pitches. Tweener pitcher, as his velocity began to drop the longer he pitched, but I don't know if he is a 1 inning guy or not.

5th: FB (93), SL (81-85)

6th: FB (90-93), SL (79-85), CU (84)

7th: FB (89-92), SL (82-84), CU (85)

4) Tyler Walker: 27 pitches. 0 Strikes Swinging.

• He comes from an over the top release and shows a straight 4-seam fastball, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with good fade and sink. 4-A arm now.

7th: FB (90-92), SL (79-83), CU (78)

8th: FB (90-91), SL (82-83), CU (78)

5) Lance Cormier: 31 Pitches. 2 Strikes Swinging on cutters (1 in 8th, 1 in 9th).

• Cormier is a 6-1, 200 pound righty. The 28 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He comes from an over the top release and shows a cutter with solid cut and sink, a 12-6 curve with good depth that may be able to be a strikeout pitch and a 2-seam fastball with some sink and run in on righties. Solid long-man, don't expect a whole lot more and he is pitching a little over his head right now.

8th: Cut (85-87), CB (76-77), FB (87)

9th: Cut (85-87), CB (76-77)

6) Sergio Escalona: 14 Pitches. 0 Strikes Swinging

• Escalona is a 6-0, 170 pound lefty. The 24 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He comes from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His change is a straight change that looks like a fastball out of his hand. His curve is an 11-5 pitch with good depth and may be able to be a strike out pitch. 2nd lefty in a pen is his upside in my opinion and he shows solid velocity for a lefty.

9th: FB (89-91), CB (77-80), CU (79-82)

Oswalt vs. Hochevar for a score tomorrow in addition to a chart.

Chart Observations: MIN @ TB, Yankees Win

• David Price is a 23 year old left hander who stands 6-6, 225. He has a big frame that can add a little more muscle, but not much. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that has a little run. His slider is a very sharp 10-4 offering with good depth. His changeup is straight and below average. He rocks back in the windup at the balance point and then explodes to the plate. Price is a potential # 1 starter, as he just used a FB-SL until the 6th when he threw 2 changes. If he can develop another off-speed offering to use occasionally (he is also working on a curveball), he will reach it. Another interesting note is everytime he threw his slowest pitches of the inning to the 1st batter he faced and threw harder the longer the inning went. He needs to fix that.

1st: FB (91-97), SL (89-91)

2nd: FB (91-96), SL (86-88)

3rd: FB (91-96), SL (84-88)

4th: FB (89-94), SL (85-87)

5th: FB (90-97), SL (87-89)

6th: FB (91-97), SL (86-88), CU (84-87

• Francisco Liriano, a 25 year old who stands 6-2, 225 opposed him. Liriano is a left hander with a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes from a 3/4 release and shows a fastball that is a straight 4-seam, a changeup that looks like the fastball out of his hand until it drops off the table and a sharp 10-4 slider. Liriano's issue is the hype around him and his command. At his current velocities, Liriano is a middle of the rotation starter. If he can get back up to sitting in the mid 90's, then he is an ace. His command within the strike zone also needs to improve, as he leaves too many pitches in the middle of the plate. Upside of an ace, but likely a # 3.

1st: FB (90-91), SL (85-88), CU (80-85)

2nd: FB (89-93), SL (83-87), CU (83-84)

3rd: FB (90-93), SL (85-89), CU (83-85)

4th: FB (89-92), SL (83-87), CU (83-86)

• R.A. Dickey is a 34 year old knuckleballer who stands 6-2, 215. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. From an over the top release, he shows a knuckleball (why describe it when the catcher doesn't even know where it is going? The first one he threw, Joe Mauer completely whiffed and it him on his knee protectors), a 2-seam fastball with good fade and a straight change with a little fade. Who knows if he is useful? There are worse 12th men in the pen in the majors.

5th: KNU (70-79), FB (84-85)

6th: KNU (69-77), FB (83-85)

7th: KNU (74-77), FB (83-84), CU (79)

8th: KNU (72-79), FB (84-86), CU (73-77)

• Grant Balfour is a 31 year old who stands 6-2, 195. The right hander has a medium frame that looks to be maxed out. He attacks from an over the top release with a straight 4-seam fastball, a 2-8 slider that looks flatter then last year and a 12-6 curve. Both his offspeed pitches are just average and he has had issues with his command, though he didn't show them in this outing. Appears to be a reliable middle reliever who pitched over his head last year as their top setup man.

6th: FB (91-93), SL (85)

7th: FB (90-94), CB (81)

8th: FB (91-94), SL (86)

9th: FB (91-93), SL (84)

• Randy Choate is back in the big leagues. The 33 year old left hander stands 6-1, 200. He has a medium frame that has room to add more muscle, though expecting it too is probably a bad idea. The sidearmer featured a fastball with good run and sink and a 9-4 frisbee slider. Opens up his delivery as he steps toward third base as opposed to the plate, which has to give lefties a little better view of his pitches. As a 2nd lefty in a pen, you could do worse. But, is he more valuable then another righty? I think he continues to bounce around the bus to AAA.

9th: FB (86-89), SL (78-79)

• Northern Yankees won something like 9-4. I went 2-5 with a double and changed my stance and it worked much better against some of the slower pitching we see. I pitched the final 2 innings (we were tied at 4 after 5, we play 7 innings) and they were perfect frames with 3 strikeouts.

Tomorrow is another busy day. Have a chart, a baseball game at 530 or something like that and a 10:10 score featuring my 3rd look at Billy Buckner as a starter (in 3 chances) against what was supposed to be Clayton Kershaw, but has been changed to Hiroki Kuroda, as he makes his 1st start since coming off the DL. Who wants to watch one of the best lefties in the game anyways?