Extra Report: 6/2 OAK @ CWS

Baseball game got cancelled because it rains here everyday, so decided to go into work and scout this game.

• Bartolo Colon is a 36 year old who stands 5-11, 245. The pudgy right hander has a small frame that is maxed out with some bad weight there. He comes from a 3/4, almost high 3/4 release. His fastball has some late fade and sink, and all but 3 of his pitches were this fastball. He has the 2-seam that he likes to start just off the gloveside corner and run back over for a strike and a straight 4-seam that he will throw just to mix things up. His changeup moves like his fastball, but with more fade while his slider is a 2-7 offering that is slurvy. Both his off-speed pitches are average. Seems to be a good # 4 when healthy, as he will eat innings and tends to get a lot of weak contact from his moving fastball, but he can't have too many more seasons left.

1st: FB (86-89)

2nd: FB (86-87), CU (81)

3rd: FB (86-90)

4th: FB (86-92)

5th: FB (86-92), CU (81)

6th: FB (85-91), SL (79)

• Vin Mazzaro is a 6-1, 215 pound right hander. The 22 year old has a medium frame that has room to add a ton of muscle, especially in the lower body. He lands hard on his front leg and kicks his leg out, but his mechanics are otherwise very clean and maximize his velocity. His sinker is similar to that of Mike Pelfrey as opposed to Brandon Webb or Trevor Cahill. It's a 2-seamer with late fade and a little sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent bite that is fairly average. He likes to throw his hard slider on the gloveside corner and have it break out of the zone (does this to both righties and lefties). His change looks like a fastball out of his hand and flashes between plus and average. The first change he threw was plus, as it showed great fade and sink. His others were just average, with some fade and a litle sink, but not a ton of movement. His fastball can straighten out at times. His curveball is just a slower slider, as it is a 2-7 pitch with less speed and more break and it is another pitch that is anywhere from average to above average. Jim Thome looked silly trying to hit it early on. His slider can flatten out to look like a cutter at times. Mazzaro probably doesn't have any velocity left, but needs to add muscle so that he can maintain his velocity deeper into games. At about 75 pitches, his velocity started coming down. He is a solid middle of the rotation starter down the line and is probably a # 5 right now due to the inconsistencies of his off-speed offerings, but he is a good bet to reach that ceiling in my opinion.

1st: FB (92-96), SL (87-89)

2nd: FB (91-94), SL (85-86), CU (86)

3rd: FB (91-94), SL (85), CU (86-87), CB (81-83)

4th: FB (91-93), SL (85-86), CU (84-85), CB (81-82)

5th: FB (89-92), SL (84-85), CU (85), CB (79)

6th: FB (89-91), SL (82-83), CU (84), CB (79)

7th: FB (90-91), SL (83)

• Jimmy Gobble is a 27 year old who stands 6-3, 210. The left hander has a medium to big frame that has room to add a little more muscle and can probably get up to 220 comfortably. He comes from a 3/4 release. Hangs back behind his leg kick a little and then accelerates through to pitch. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. His slider is a 9-3 offering with a little bite and sink. It is more of a sweeping slider and it's a late breaker. Generated about 5 or 6 swings and misses on the pitch. He can battle his fastball command at times and threw a lot of sliders. His change was over thrown and was way up and away. I think he is a 2nd lefty in someone's pen, one that you don't want facing a lot of righties, but should be able to get lefties out with FB-SL.

6th: FB (87-88), SL (76-84)

7th: FB (89-91), SL (82-84), CU (80)

• D.J. Carrasco is a 6-3, 220 pounder right hander. He has a medium to big frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows some fade and a little sink. His cutter shows good late cut and some sink. His slider is a 3-7 offering with good late movement and will drop down sidearm to throw sliders. Solid reliever, just not one you want closing or setting up.

7th: FB (92), Cut (89-90)

8th: Cut (88-89), SL (81), Sidearm SL (73)

• Craig Breslow is a 6-1, 180 pounder who has a medium frame that can add more muscle and should be able to get to 195. The 27 year old lefty attacked from a high 3/4 release and is on his 2nd team this season, as the Twins exposed him to waivers before being picked up by the A's. Breslow's primary fastball is a 2-seamer with some fade and he will mix in a straight 4-seam. His slider is a 10-3 offering with good bite. He is an 11th or 12th pitcher for a team and isn't a bad 2nd left hander in a pen if your team has that luxury.

7th: FB (88-91), SL (81)

• Brad Ziegler is a 29 year old who stands 6-4, 205. The right hnader has a big frame that has room to add more muscle. He is a submariner with a fastball that has good fade and sink and a slider that is a 5-8 (never thought I would type that type of pitch) with more side to side movement then bite. Solid middle reliever, but I think he pitched over his head at the beginning of last year. I think Chad Bradford in his prime is exactly what Ziegler is.

8th: FB (84-86), SL (71-72)

9th: FB (84-85)

• Wes Whisler was another pitcher who made his big league debut in this game. The 26 year old lefty stands 6-5, 240 and can add a little more muscle (probably to 245). He has a 3/4 release and is more of a slinger arm action. He pitches more with his body then his arm and his arm tends to lag behind. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with some run. His slider is a slurvy 10-4 offering and his change shows good sink and dive. I thought his change was his best off-speed offering, but that doesn't help him in regards to trying to be a LOOGY. Is another one of the Sox low-upside arms that is probably pitching at his ceiling right now, a 12th guy on a staff who was a starter in the minors, but doesn't have the pitches to do it in the bigs and he also doesn't have one lights out offspeed offering.

9th: FB (86-89), SL (82-84), CU (79-80)

My phone was pretty much dead, so I couldn't do any type of stop watch stuff.

Chart and a score tomorrow, with the score featuring the Diamondbacks (Scherzer) and Padres (Correia).

Chart Impressions: CHW @ KC

• I have to imagine that watching Zach Greinke pitch nowadays is like being a fan of painting and getting to watch Leonardo Da Vinci work. Greinke attacked hitters with a mid-90's fastball, a mid to high 80's slider and a low 70's curveball. Every pitch he threw was plus. He didn't even have to throw his low 80's changeup today to throw a complete game shutout. His command has been otherworldy thus far. He is definitely the front-runner for the AL Cy Young as long as he stays healthy, which he should, as his mechanics are still very clean.
• Bartolo Colon was the unlucky pitcher who had to realize he was getting a loss no matter what he did. Colon attacked hitters with a low to mid 90's 4-seamer, a plus high 80's to low 90's 2-seamer, a below average mid 80's slider and a below average mid 80's change. Colon threw about 90 % fastballs and this is because his offspeed stuff is not where it once was. However, his 2-seam fastball can compensate for that due to its movement and its ability to keep the hitters from hitting it. He likes to start it on the outer half to righties (or inner half to lefties) and run it back over the plate for a strike. He then pitched off of that and had it start further outside and end up just outside the plate, having hitters make weak contact on fastballs out of the zone.
• Clayton Richard was the only other pitcher to throw in this game. He attacked hitters with a low to mid 90's fastball, a high 70's to mid 80's slurvy slider and a low to mid 70's changeup. I also believed he has added a mid to high 80's cutter to his repetoire this year as another weapon. His fastball is a 4-seam that is fairly straight and is likely barely above average due to the velocity. His slider, changeup and cutter are all average pitches. He likely profiles better as a starter then a reliever, as he doesn't have that one above average pitch that would make him a LOOGY. A back-end starter is his upside as a starter and is a 10th or 11th guy as a reliever.
• Jayson Nix returned to the big leagues after flaming out last April with the Rockies. Nix is a very muscular guy whose frame is completely maxed out. He has a little hunch in his setup, but nothing too major that results in a detriment to him hitting. He played 3rd base tonight after coming up as a 2nd basemen. He also played right field. That is likely his best role on a team, as a supersub. The White Sox are a good team to try and make it with, as they employed the likes of Pablo Ozuna for a good while and Nix is a little slower but has more power. He has his uses, just not as an everyday player, as I have heard he isn't great defensively at 2B and doesn't have the stick to provide average production as a 3B or RF.
• I like Chris Getz as an everyday 2B, but he is likely more of a 2-hole hitter then a lead-off hitter. He is crouched in his stance and shows the ability to control the strike zone. He doesn't have any real plus tools, but all his tools are at least average. He is likely a .280 hitter with a .340-.360 on-base percentage and a .400 slugging. Pretty solid player for a 2Bmen.
• Alexei Ramirez has struggled this year when I have seen him. Pitchers are feeding him off-speed pitches that start on the outside corner and break off and Ramirez has flailed at them everytime. I don't think this is anything shocking, as he showed an inability to control the strike zone last season despite putting up strong numbers. I think he is very similar to Jeff Francouer and will have a similar career path, where he will need to undergo some major plate discipline changes to reach his potential. The question is does Gordon Beckham (when talking to the scout that drafted him, he compared him to Michael Young) put extra pressure, since Beckham can likely handle SS and Getz can handle 2B? Time will tell. If it had to, I believe Beckham has the offensively capability to carry 3rd base.
• David DeJesus is a very underrated OF. His production doesn't carry a corner (and having Coco Crisp in CF, Mark Teahen at 3B and Billy Butler at 1B doesn't really give him an opportunity to not provide the pop necessary for a corner outfielder), but he is a valuable player nonetheless. He is a typical .290-.360-.440 type hitter in my mind and is hitting in his ideal spot, 2 hole. Does he have the ability to go higher? You can never say never, but I think he is playing at his peak right now, as a valuable OFer who can play 3 spots and provide top of the order like on-base production.
• Brent Lillibridge should lose his spot to Nix. Lillibridge hasn't even proven he can hit AAA pitching, let alone major league pitching. Lillibridge is still young and can develop his plus speed into a more usable asset by working counts better and adding a lot more muscle. Not saying he isn't a big leaguer down the road, as he can likely be a legit super-utility guy in 2 or 3 years, but he isn't ready for big league pitching yet.

Got the Astros-Nationals live score coming up in half an hour with a pitching matchup of Oswalt and Olsen.