5/29: FLA @ NYM

• Sean West attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His fastbal was a straight 4-seam. He will slide step and leg kick with runners on. His hard slider is a sharp 10-3 offering while his soft slider is a 10-3 offering that is a little slurvy. His changeup is a straight change. Still a solid major league starter with potential of a # 2.

West Inning By Inning:
1st: FB (91-94), SL (83)
2nd: FB (91-94), SL (80), CU (84)
3rd: FB (90-92), SL (80)
4th: FB (90-93), SL (84)
5th: FB (90-93), SL (79)
6th: FB (90-93), SL (80), CU (82-85)
7th: FB (90-93), SL (79-84)

• Mike Pelfrey is a 25 year old who stands 6-7, 230. He has a big frame that appears to be maxed out. He attacks hitters from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows average fade and a little sink. The movement is late, but it can be inconsistent. His slider is a loopy 2-7 offering with some bite, but it can be flat at times. His changeup showed good bite and fade. His curveball is a 1-7 pitch that appears to be just a slower slider that he only throws to lefties. He will leg kick and slide step.

Pelfrey Inning By Inning:
1st: FB (91-94), SL (85)
2nd: FB (90-94), SL (84)
3rd: FB (90-94)
4th: FB (90-94), SL (83-86), CU (82)
5th: FB (90-93), SL (81-83), CU (82)
6th: FB (91-92), SL (84-85), CU (81-82)
7th: FB (90-93), SL (84-85), CU (82), CB (74-77)
8th: FB (89-93), SL (84), CB (75)

• Bobby Parnell attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with great depth and flashes as a plus pitch.

Parnell Inning By Inning:
8th: FB (95-97), SL (85-89)

• Kiko Calero is a 34 year old who stands 6-1, 210 The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. His slider is a 2-8 offering with good depth and bite that he has plus command of. His fastball shows some occasional fade, but looks to be a straight 4-seam. Will throw 70 % sliders.

Calero Inning By Inning:
8th: SL (78-82), FB (86-88)

• Francisco Rodriguez attacked from an over the top release. His curveball is a sharp 12-6 with good bite. His change falls off the table with solid fade. His fastball is a straight 4-seam.

Rodriguez Inning By Inning:
9th: FB (90-94), CB (80-82), CU (84-89)

• Leo Nunez attacks hitters from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seam with average fade and a little sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering that can be a spinner at times. It shows average bite and decent depth. His changeup shows great fade and a little sink.

Nunez Inning By Inning:
9th: FB (93-95), SL (84-86), CU (86-87)

• Fernando Martinez pinch hit. The 20 year old who stands 6-1, 190 is a lefty hitter and righty thrower. He has a medium frame that, surprisingly, appears to be maxed out. He has a slightly open stance and holds the bat horizontal over this shoulder with a little bat wiggle. His trigger is a stride and a cocking of the bat Looks almost like a slap hitter, as he gets all his weight on his front foot. Reminds me of Brian Giles and I think that is his upside. His swing can get long.


• J.J. Putz attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His splitter showed great fade and some bite. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes fade.

Putz Inning By Inning:
10th: FB (93-95), Split (84-88)
11th: FB (90-94), Split (83-85), SL (81)

• Dan Meyer attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His slider is a sweeping 10-4 pitch. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His changeup has some sink, but looks to be average, though it does look like a fastball out of hand. His fastball is a straight 4-seam.

Meyer Inning By Inning:
10th: FB (89-93), SL (86-87), CU (81-82)

• Pedro Feliciano attacks hitters from a sidearm release. Fastball is a 4-seam that gets good run and a little sink. Slider is a sweeping 9-4, 9-3 pitch. His change shows good fade, but is an average offering.

Feliciano Inning By Inning:

11th: FB (88-89), SL (83-84), CU (75)

• Brian Sanches attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. He is very similar to Brandon League of the Jays in mechanics and pitch selection. His fastball shows a little fade and sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with solid depth.

Sanches Inning By Inning:

11th: FB (89-90), SL (81-85)

Chart Observations: WAS @ NYM

• John Lannan started for the Nats. The 24 year old left hander who stands 6-4, 215 has a big frame with room to add a little more muscle. From a high 3/4, almost over the top release, he featured a fastball at 85-89, a curveball at 70-76, a slider at 81-82 and a changeup at 80-82. His fastball has good run and a little sink and is an average offering. His slider is a 10-4 offering with good depth and is a slightly above average pitch. His chnageup moves like a 2-seamer and is just a little slower and is also just an average pitch. His curveball is an 11-5 offering that can be a little loopy and that is also average. He really fights himself to try and keep his fastball down and tends to miss armside with his pitches. He is a nibbler who prefers to stay on the inside or outside corners. Most of his fastballs are aimed at the knees on the outside corner and he hits the spot quite often. He is a # 4 starter right now, who could grow into a # 3. It also isn't out of the realm of possibility to see him add enough muscle to get up to 89-91 consistently with his fastball.
• John Maine is a 28 year old who stands 6-4, 200. The right hander has a big frame with room to add a lot more muscle. From a 3/4 release, Maine showed a fastball at 89-93, a slider at 85-87 and a changeup at 82-87. His fastball has a little fade to it and is a slightly above average pitch due to its velocity. His changeup shows good fade and sink and is an above average offering. His slider shows good bite and late drop and is a 2-7 type pitch that is above average. Maine's struggles aren't with his stuff, it is with his command. He struggles to command his fastball and has a tendency to leave it up (bad) and in the middle of the plate (double bad). He likes to throw his slider with 2 strikes and starts it at the knees on the inside corner to lefties (or outside corner to righties) and have the natural movement take it out of the zone. He misses his spots more then any pitcher I have seen this year, constantly throwing outside fastballs when the catcher wants it in and vice versa. To left handers, he likes to throw sliders in and changes away. Maine is a # 3 starter right now with ace potential still with his frame and his command struggles. He likely won't start throwing any harder, though it wouldn't be crazy to see him at 92-94 consistently in a couple year. Will he ever solve his command issues and take that next step to be a # 2?
• Jesus Colome is a 31 year old who stands 6-2, 240. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. From a low 3/4, almost side arm, release he showed a fastball at 92-95 and a slider at 87-90. His slider has more bite to it then side to side movement, but it can flatten out at times. It is a sharp and late breaking pitch with 3-7 type movement when on. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. Both his pitches are above average, but he has a tendency to fall behind hitters and throw that 4-seam over the middle of the plate. Looks like a solid middle reliever who has a drop and drive delivery from the stretch.
• Bobby Parnell had some command issues. His fastball showed good fade and sink. From his high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 93-98 and a slider at 84-86. His slider showed very good bite and is a 2-7 type pitch. He has a classic drop and drive delivery with a big leg kick. His slider flashes plus. He will over throw his fastball, causing him to leave it up. He really struggled with his control in this outing and wasn't missing by much, but continued to nibble and didn't make an adjustment to throw more over the middle of the plate.
• Pedro Feliciano is a 32 year old left hander who stands 5-10, 190. He has a small frame that is maxed out. From a sidearm release, he showed a fastball at 88 and a slider at 82-84. His slider is a frisbee slider and is a 9-4 type offering. Fastball shows some sink and a little fade. He generates very good deception and throws across his body a little bit. A good LOOGY and is a good # 1 lefty to have in a pen.
• J.J. Putz is a 32 year old who stand 6-5, 250. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 92-95, a splitter at 83-86 and a slider at 85. His fastball showed good fade and some sink. He was flying open mechanically in his 2nd inning of work, causing him to lose command of his fastball. Splitter has excellent fade, but only average bite. His slider is a 1-7 offering that shows good bite. His splitter is every where from average to plus. Good top set-up man who could probably still close right now.
• Daniel Cabrera is a 27 year old who stands 6-9, 260. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out. From an over the top release, he showed a fastball at 88-92 and a slider at 76-80. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes some fade. His slider is a 11-6 offering that shows some late bite, but is just an average offering and is very inconsistent. He struggles to repeate his mechanics and will throw 40 foot sliders. He is hell for catchers, as he has no idea where the ball is going once he releases it and he spikes quite a few pitches. He is done, but you will likely hear from him again in a couple years.
• Jason Bergmann showed a fastball at 92 and a curveball at 75-77 from a high 3/4 release. The curveball is a 12-6 breaker with average break and bite. His fastball is a 2-seam with excellent fade. Solid middle reliever.
• Kip Wells is a 32 year old who stands 6-3, 205. The right hander has a medium to big frame that looks like it can add more muscle, especially on the lower half. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 92-96 and a slider at 86. His fastball shows above average fade and solid sink and is an above average offering. His slider is sharp with late break and is a 3-9 type pitch that is also above average. I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility for him to turn into a closer.
• Francisco Rodriguez is a 26 year old who stands 6-0, 195. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. From a high 3/4, almost over the top release he showed a fastball at 92-95, a curveball at 80-83 and a changeup at 83-87. The fastball shows above average fade and a little sink and is an above average offering. His curveball is sharp with late break and is a 12-6 offering that is above average. His changeup has excellent dive and has above average fade and just disappears and is a plus pitch. He has a max effort delivery and will likely be a strong closer for another couple of years.

NYM @ SF

• I got to watch Johan Santana pitch for the 1st time in about 2 years and he is definitely amongst the best pitchers in the majors. He was at 89-93 with his fastball, 79-84 with his changeup and 82-86 with his slider. The bad part of this is the Mets seem to take off everyday he pitches, making errors or just not hitting, or both. His fastball is above average due to his plus command, his changeup is plus-plus and his slider was above average. He mainly was FB-CU and had guys way out in front or swinging over the top of his change. If the Mets can ever play defense behind him, his pitch counts would become much more manageable. A legit # 1.
• Randy Johnson has lost some stuff. He was 88-94 with his fastball, 84-88 with the slider and 83-86 with the splitter. Johnson's slider is now merely a plus pitch and his fastball is slightly above average. The splitter is just an average offering. He still has plus-plus command, but now gets punished when he misses in the zone or teams bloops fall in and both happened to him today. He is a back of the rotation starter for a contender though with his ability to eat up innings and is a valuable pitcher.
• Justin Miller was picked up by the Giants from the Marlins. He features a fastball at 87-91 and a slider at 78-82. Nothing about this guy is plus. He struggled with his command (I would say it is below average), his fastball is average and his slider may be a tick above average. He has a slight amount of extra movement in his stretch, as the lead foot comes down, then out. Not sure if its anything, but it is a different thing. He seems to be in the mold of Vinnie Chulk or Kiko Calero, but just doesn't have the stuff to be that. Organizational reliever.
• Merkin Valdez demonstrated his plus arm featuring a fastball at 95-97 and a slider at 85. Valdez was once a top prospect before he had multiple arm surgeries, but he has a plus fastball and a plus slider with average command from a high 3/4 release point and you have to think the more innings he throws, the more his command will develop. I think this kid is a future closer, though he will need to be quick to shed his injury-prone label and show an ability to pitch on back-to-back days.
• Pat Misch is another reliever who didn't show much. From a 3/4 release, he was 85-89 with his fastball, 84 with his slider, 75-78 with his curveball and 80-82 with his changeup. I liked his curveball, but when you sit at 85-89 with your fastball and only show a little above average command, your error zone gets a lot smaller. I think he is a long reliever in a pen, but he isn't a guy who has LOOGY potential, as his curveball isn't a true out or plus pitch, but just above average. His changeup was also a touch above average, making him a good candidate to face both righties and lefties.
• Bobby Parnell was another lightning arm on display this afternoon. He was 94-98 with his fastball and 81-85 with his slider. His slider is average, though it has flashed above average a few times I have seen him and his command is also just average. I wouldn't expect him to maintain a sub 2 ERA all season, but it isn't out of the question for a sub 3 ERA and being a solid 7th inning guy if he doesn't get victimized too badly by the Mets defense or balls in play. Parnell's upside is that of a closer, though I think he will settle in as a set-up man.
• Brandon Medders finished the game for the Giants and got hit around a little bit. Once a hard throwing right hander in the Diamondbacks system, he has made himself into a command and control type pitcher (whether it's an upgrade or not is debatable). He featured a cut fastball at 88-91 (may just be natural cut, but it is a cutter), a curveball at 68-70 and a slider at 80-83. Only the cutter was a real above average pitch and that is only due to the fact he can typically spot it. He only has above average command, so he does tend to leave pitches out over the plate and with his new velocity, he gets hit. His curveball is a plus offering, but is no out pitch, as it is too slow and easy to fight off. Another guy who features best as a 10th or 11th guy in the pen. He will likely continue riding the bus to Fresno and back.
• J.J. Putz got the save for the Mets and featured his 4-seam fastball at 94-96, a slider at 82 and a splitter at 84-86. The splitter had very good bite today. When the splitter doesn't have good bite, he is forced to rely on his fastball to left handers and that is how he gets hit. His slider is above average and his fastball is also above average. His command is above average, but when he misses with the fastball, he tends to miss up. If he can continue to be consistent with his splitter, he is a luxury for the Mets, as he is a closer pitching the 8th inning.
• Manny Burriss, a 6-0 190 pound 23 year old, is a switch hitter with a small frame that can add quite a bit more muscle (though if he does, he likely loses some speed). From the right side, he features a crouched stance. He is a plus runner who understands his strengths and looks to pound the ball on the ground. He moves his weight back as the pitcher is about to release. From the left side, he features a crouched stance, but also opens himself up to see the ball better. He may be a tad overexposed as a starting 2Bmen, though he fits their park very well with his speed. I think he winds up being a super utility guy that can play everywhere (he came up as a SS) and being the top guy off a bench for a contender. A career like Chone Figgins also isn't out of question.
• Pablo Sandoval, a 5-11 245 pound 22 year old, is a switch hitter with a squatty build and a body that would be described by scouts as bad. He has huge thighs, which have to worry you as he ages. His frame is currently maxed out (hard to tell if it is good or bad). He shows a fairly stright up stance and takes a big leg kick right before the pitcher release. He is a below average runner. He is more or of a line drive gap hitter then a masher. His upside is likely close to that of a starting 3B. If he was able to catch everyday, he would be immensely more valuable. The only problem with his as a corner infielder is I don't believe he will show the power needed from those positions and doesn't offer too much defensively. He is the classic defensive tweener, as he can't play OF, can play manageable corner infield spots, but you wish you had someone better there and he can spot catch, but you don't want him catching everyday. I think he is good enough to establish himself as an everyday 3B for a team that gets its power elsewhere (like Philly) and is a guy that will be a .280-.330-.440 guy in his prime. Very aggressive hitter that won't walk much.
• Travis Ishikawa, a 6-3 225 pound 25 year old, has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He features a slightly open stance that is nearly identical to that of teammate Fred Lewis. You would think he would have power his frame, but he also appears to be another gap-hitting San Francisco corner infielder. He is a tweener to me, but a tweener in the sense I think he is a 4-A player. He doesn't offer much in regards to batting average (probably about a .260 hitter), power (maybe 15 home runs, that's the max), defense (kind of lead footed and doesn't have great hands) or speed (just an average runner). Sounds like a 4-A player to me. John Bowker is hitting .317 in AAA. Sounds like its his turn again in the "Who Wants to Play First Base for the Giants And Not Be Worthless?" gameshow.
• Bengie Molina's catch and throw ability has really deteriorated. He is slow in his exchange, it appears his arm angle has dropped causing the ball to tail towards second base and his arm is just average. However, he is their best hitter, so he will continue to play. It actually scares me to what Sandoval's defensive is like back there, as I would think playing Molina at 1B could be a better option (who knows at this point, he has to be better then John Bowker).

Chart Impressions: FLA @ NYN

• John Maine has good stuff with his low to mid 90's fastball, mid 80's change that he throws to both RH and LH hitters and a mid 80's slider. However, he has some of that Kevin Millwood control, where for 1 batter he can throw 4 pitches that aren't close. Can he continue to refine his command? You can never say never, and if he finds a way, a legit # 2 as opposed to a solid # 3 right now.
• Anibal Sanchez was a pain in the ass to chart. His fastball sits at 88-90 with some action, and he has a mid 70's curve. The difficulty in charting him rests in his mid 80's change vs. mid 80's slider. I had him at about 20 % of each pitch in this latest start. All of them are fairly major league average pitches and he is a pitcher that will need to be greater then the sum of his parts. Pitching in Florida helps him look better then he truly is. He is a back-end starter now (and I was a big fan when he came up).
• Sean Green is a very useful RHP to have in the pen. A sidearmer with great movement on his fastball, he has enough on his slider to make hitters respect it. A good 7th inning guy.
• J.J. Putz has weapons to attack both RH and LH with his slider-splitter combo to go with a mid 90's fastball. Could probably still close, but really helps the Mets shorten games with him and K-Rod.
• K-Rod still shows exactly what I saw in the playoffs. A pitcher who has lost velocity on his fastball (92-94 now) but has tremendous off-speed pitches (I believe his changeup is his best and LH seriously have no chance when it's on). I wouldn't have given him a big contract, but the Mets are looking to win now and are willing to sacrifice the money to bring him in. I think his contract will be a liability by his 3rd year personally. But if they win the World Series, it's worth it.
• Dan Meyer is now a reliever after failing to establish himself as a starter in the bigs. Nothing too exceptional about him and is a 3-pitch guy (FB, SL, CB).
• Renyel Pinto kind of disappointed me. This is the 1st I had seen of him pitch (and was a fan based off stats and stuff I had read) but I just didn't see it. Sits in the low to mid 90's with his fastball, but neither of his offspeed pitches are overwhelming. Throws a straight change as his top offspeed and it shows some good sink. His slider is solid average as well. He is a solid middle reliever (whereas I had thought he might be a late inning guy).
• Welcome back to earth Emilio Bonifacio. I love how people freak out on a week's worth of at-bats. The kid is a slap hitter who is still developing plate discipline. He is not going to hit .300. I think he is a .250-.260 hitter with some steals. Not a lead-off hitter and not 3rd base production, but a super-utility position would be his best option.
• Hanley Ramirez took a fastball off the wrist. If he is hurt for any prolonged period of time, the Marlins are in a world of hurt. He was smiling in the dugout with it wrapped, so maybe he is just day to day.
• Omir Santos hit a grand slam. Some Mets fans will now think he is their answer at catcher. He isn't.

Scoring the Pittsburgh-Milwaukee game tonight with Paul Maholm and Dave Bush. We will see if Bush can try and impress me this time out.