Chart Observations: 9/14 ARI @ SD (1st 9)

1) Kevin Correia: 111 pitches. (FB, SL, CU, CB, Cut). 10 strikes swinging. 5 Fastballs, 2 Cutters, 2 Sliders, Curveball.

• Correia came from a high 3/4 release and showed a 2-7 slider with good bite, a fastball with some run in on righties and some sink, a 12-6 curve with above average depth, a cutter with good cut and a change with good fade from lefties and some sink.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (84-85), CB (77) - FB

2nd: FB (90-92), SL (84-87), CB (75-77), CU (84), Cut (87-89)

3rd: FB (90-91), SL (84-87), CB (77-78), Cut (87-89) - Cut, SL, CB

4th: FB (90-92), SL (86-87), CB (78) - FB

5th: FB (90-92), SL (87-88), CB (77), CU (84), Cut (89)

6th: FB (89-92), SL (87), CB (77-79), CU (82-84) - 3 FB, SL

7th: FB (91-92), SL (87), CB (76-78), Cut (86-88) - Cut

2) Billy Buckner: 102 pitches. (FB, CB, CU, Cut). 11 strikes swinging. 6 Fastballs, 5 Curveballs.

• Buckner came from a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties and some sink, a 12-6 curve that has above average depth and is fairly sharp, a change with some fade from lefties and some sink that he will throw to righties and a cutter with some cut.

1st: FB (88-91), CB (80-84), CU (84) - 2 FB, 2 CB

2nd: FB (89-93), CB (79-83), CU (82) - 2 FB

3rd: FB (86-90), CB (78-81), CU (82) - CB

4th: FB (88-91), CB (80-83), CU (81-82) - FB, CB

5th: FB (83-90), CB (83) - CB

6th: FB (86-90), CB (78-81), CU (80-82) - FB

7th: FB (88-89), CU (80-84)

3) Scott Schoeneweis: 13 pitches. (FB, SL, CU). 1 strike swinging. Fastball.

• Scott came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on lefties and a 11-5 slider with good bite.

7th: FB (88-90), SL (80-81) - FB

4) Esmerling Vasquez: 16 pitches. (FB, CU, SL). 5 strikes swinging. 3 Fastballs, Slider, Changeup.

• Vasquez came from a 3/4 release and showed a change with some fade from lefties and good sink that he will throw to righties, a fastball with good run in on righties and solid sink and a 2-7 slider with a little bite.

7th: FB (94-97), CU (82) - 2 FB

8th: FB (94-97), CU (81-82), SL (84-85) - FB, SL, CU

5) Ryan Webb: 3 pitches. (FB, SL, CU). 0 strikes swinging.

• Webb came from a high 3/4 release and showed a sharp 2-7 slider with solid bite and a fastball with good run in on righties and solid sink.

7th: FB (95), SL (87-88)

6) Luke Gregerson: 13 pitches. (SL, FB, CU). 3 strikes swinging. 2 Sliders, Fastball.

• Gregerson came from a 3/4 release and showed a 2-7 slider with above average bite, a fastball with good run in on righties and some sink and a change with good fade from lefties and good sink.

8th: FB (91-93), SL (83-85), CU (81) - 2 SL, FB

7) Sean Gallagher: 9 pitches. (FB, SL, CB, CU). 0 strikes swinging.

• Gallagher came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with good run in on righties and some sink, a sharp 12-6 curve with above average depth and a sharp 2-7 slider with solid bite.

9th: FB (91-93), SL (83-87), CB (74)

8) Joe Thatcher: 13 pitches. (FB, SL, CU). 1 strike swinging. Slider.

• Thatcher came from a sidearm release and showed a 9-3 slider with good bite and a fastball with a little run in on lefties.

9th: FB (87-88), SL (76-78) - SL

9) Clay Zavada: 17 pitches. (FB, CU, CB, Cut). 3 strikes swinging. 2 Fastballs, Changeup.

• Zavada came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with some run in on lefties and a straight change with some sink that he will throw to lefties.

9th: FB (88-91), CU (81-82) - 2 FB, CU

ARI @ LAD

• Hiroki Kuroda made his return from the DL tonight. The 33 year old who stands 6-1, 220 has a medium frame that has room to add more muscle. He is a right hander who attacks from a high 3/4 release with the typical Japanese windup. His fastball is a 2-seam that shows fade and a little sink, though he will mix in an occasional 4-seamer. His split shows good sink and dive. His slider is sharp and will move more like a cutter. He really struggled to find a feel for his pitches early. Most of his sliders were left belt high, but the D'Backs hitters just missed them. He was relying on more sliders then fastballs until after the 2nd, when he began to pound the zone with fastballs. Solid middle of the rotation starter when right, probably a # 4. Pitching in LA helps take away a lot of mistakes.

1st: FB (90-93), SL (85-86), Split (79-83)

2nd: FB (90-94), SL (83-87)

3rd: FB (89-92), SL (85), Split (80-84)

4th: FB (90-93), SL (84-85), Split (83)

5th: FB (90-94), SL (85), Split (82)

• Billy Buckner attacks hitters from an over the top release. This is his 3rd (of 3 starts) that I have scored. His fastball is a 2-seam with good fade and sink. His change shows the same type of movement, but on a greater scale. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch that is his key. He struggled to command it in his last outing and got hit around a little. He had great command of it today and could throw it for a strike or bury it whenever he wanted. His fastball fades late and likes to pound it on the outside corner to get strike one. He is slowly trying to convince me to turn around my thinking, but I still think he is just a 5th starter, especially pitching in the hitters' park that is Arizona.

1st: FB (85-92), CB (79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (87-92), CB (78-83), CU (82-83)

3rd: FB (90-92), CB (77-82), CU (79-82)

4th: FB (89-92), CB (81-82), CU (80-82)

5th: FB (88-91), CB (77-80), CU (83)

6th: FB (87-92), CB (82-83), CU (81-83)

• Cory Wade is a 26 year old who stands 6-1, 190. The right hander has a medium frame that has room to add a little more muscle. He attacks from an over the top release. His fastabll shows good late fade and little sink. His curveball is a plus pitch, a big breaking 12-7, 12-8 type offering. His changeup is an above average offering with good fade and sink. A great middle reliever who could be in the mold of a Scot Shields and be able to throw 2 innings to get you to your closer.

6th: FB (88-91), CU (79), CB (72)

7th: FB (89-91), CU (81-83), CB (73-77)

• Clay Zavada (he pitches every Diamondbacks game I do) attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball. His delivery has a little bit of a head jerk.

7th: FB (88-89), CB (72)

• Juan Gutierrez is a big bodied (6-3, 210) right hander. The 25 year old has a medium to big frame that is maxed out and there may be some bad weight there. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider is a tight 2-7 offering with good bite and it flashes plus as a pitch that just disappears. He can fly open and can over throw his fastball at times. He gets a great hip turn in his delivery to help him generate more velocity, though it is a high effort delivery. His change shows some sink, but it is below average. I think he adds and subtracts velocity from his slider as opposed to throwing a curveball. Set-up man is likely his ceiling and he can probably close some games down the line and not kill you.

7th: FB (94-96), SL (78-88)

8th: FB (94-96), SL (81-85), CU (87)

• Brent Leach is a 6-4, 220 pound left hander. The 26 year old has a big frame that has room to add a little more muscle. He attacks from a 3/4, almost high 3/4 release. His curveball is a slurvy 10-4 offering that needs to be tightened. His changeup has decent sink and a little run (struck out Justin Upton on this pitch) and his fastabll is a 4-seam with some run. Probably fits best as a LOOGY, but he could be an inning reliever depending on how much his command (a tick below average) can catch up to his slightly above average stuff.

8th: FB (90-93), CB (77-79), CU (84-85)

• Guillermo Mota attacked from a 3/4 release. His slider is a tight 2-7 offering that can be just a spinning fastball. His change shows some above average fade and some sink and his fastball has a little fade to it. I am still of the impression that he is close to being done.

8th: FB (93-94), CU (84-85), SL (86)

9th: FB (93-95), CU (85-87)

• Tony Pena is a 27 year old who stands 6-2, 220. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out and he may also be carrying a little bit of bad weight. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His slider is a hard 2-7 offering with good bite. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. He threw a ton of sliders (more then I thought he would) and he has a max effort delivery. I like him better as a closer then Qualls, but he sure made things interesting tonight.

9th: FB (95-98), SL (84-90)

• Josh Whitesell is a 27 year old first basemen who stands 6-1, 225. The lefty thrower and hitter has a medium frame that is maxed out. He has a slightly open stance while standing fairly straight up. He waves the bat in a circle above his shoulder as he awaits the pitcher to begin his delivery. His trigger is a step to square himself up followed by a little bit of a toe turn. He has a little bit of a longer swing and seemed to be pretty pull happy. He showed good power in the minors, but his defense is not good around the bag (he was pulled to move Mark Reynolds to first). He failed to scoop a short hop (not an easy play, but one a big league 1Bmen not named Ryan Howard needs to make) and didn't look very comfortable defensively. His upside is that of a bench bat to me.

Tomorrow I have a chart and a score. I will be scoring the next 3 Astros-Rockies games (and of course Michael Bourn just fouled a ball off his testicles, not like I wanted to see him play)

SD vs. ARI

• Jake Peavy is a 28 year old who is 6-1, 195. The right hander has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. From a 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 89-93, a slider at 80-85, a curveball at 78-80, a change at 81-86 and a cutter at 84-86. His slider shows good late bite and flashes as a plus 2-7 pitch. His fastball shows above average fade and is a hard 2-seamer. His change shows decent fade and sink. His cutter has some cut, but not a whole lot. His curveball is a mini 12-6 that is fairly sharp. He has a high effort delivery and will also drop down and throw fastballs and sliders from sidearm. In my eyes, Jake Peavy is no longer a # 1. He has settled in as a very good # 2 starter and he isn't a good fit for bandboxes. Still a good pitcher, just not an ace.
• Billy Buckner attacked hitters from an over the top release with a fastball at 85-91 (sat at 88-90), a curveball at 75-82 and a change at 80-86. His fastball has above average fade and some sink. His change shows good fade and sink and looks to be an above average offering. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch that he struggled to get a feel for early (threw quite a few hangers), but was able to command it better later. He will throw any of his pitches to any batter in any count. Still looks like a back of the rotation starter to me.
• Clay Zavada attacked from a 3/4, almost low 3/4 release with a fastball at 87-89, a slider at 74 and a change at 77-81. His change is a straight change with some sink and was his main off-speed pitch tonight. His fastball has a little run, but not much. His slider is a frisbee 10-4 pitch. His command was somewhat spotty as well. Still think he could be a decent inning reliever, but the lack of velocity on his fastball will always be hurting him and he doesn't have a real go-to pitch against lefties.
• Leo Rosales is a 27 year old who stands 6-1, 205. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. From an over the top release, he showed a fastball at 86-89, a slider at 80-85 and a change at 79-83. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider has good downward bite and is an 11-7 offering. His changeup shows good fade and movement and is slightly above average. Rosales can have very spotty command and this is what got him in trouble tonight. A middle reliever if he can be consistent with his command and a 4-A player if he doesn't, it really is that simple.
• Luke Gregerson attacked from a low 3/4 with a fastball at 89-91 and a slider at 80-81. His fastball is a 2-seam with good fade while his slider showed good downward movement.
• Drew Macias is a 26 year old outfielder who is 6-3, 200. The lefty hitter and thrower has a medium to big frame with room to add a little more muscle. He has a slightly open stance that is very similar to that of Chris Coghlan. He moves the bat in a circle a little bit as he waits for the pitcher to deliver. Macias looks like a 4th OF, as his swing doesn't have great power potential and he was unable to show any speed as he struck out in his only plate appearance.
• Esmerling Vasquez showed a fastball at 93-96, a slider at 79-80 and a changeup at 83-88 from a high 3/4 release. The fastball is a straight 4-seam. The slider is a 2-7 type pitch that showed good bite, but not great. The changeup is fairly straight with some sink and used it to battle the Padres lefty sticks. His slider is his most promising off-speed offering and he will need to further develop it to reach his potential. He showed average command and pitched to the middle of the plate a little too much.
• Edward Mujica showed a fastball at 91-94, a slider at 82-85 and a splitter at 87-88 from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His split showed great bite and solid fade. His slider is a 2-7 pitch with decent bite. He needs another pitch to complement his fastball and his splitter looks like his best option. Both his off-speed pitches are inconsistent with break and command. He has above average command of his fastball.
• Jon Rauch showed a fastball at 88-93 (mostly at 91), a slider at 82, a curveball at 73-74 and a changeup at 86. His fastball has good sinking movement and some fade. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch that is a little loopy. His slider is a 1-7 offering that goes nearly straight downward. He also threw a straight change. Solid middle reliever, but not a set-up man, as he has no true out pitch.
• Greg Burke featured a fastball at 89-91 and a slider at 81-83. His fastball shows great late and a little sink and he has plus command with it, as he peppered the outside corner at the knees with it. His slider is a little loopy for my taste and is a 3-8 offering. He needs to get more consistent with his slider.
• Heath Bell is a 6-3, 250 pound behemoth for a closer. The 31 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. From an over the top release, he threw 2 pitches: a fastball at 93 and a curveball at 83. The curveball was a 12-6 pitch that was very sharp. His fastball was a straight 4-seam.

Will only be doing reports on the starting pitchers tomorrow so I can get through all the games.

ARI @ OAK

• Trevor Cahill is a 21 year old who stands 6-3 and weighs 210 pounds. He has a medium to big frame that can add a lot more muscle. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a 2-seam sinker at 85-92 (typically sat around 89-91), a slider at 83, a curveball at 77-79 and a changeup at 77-81. His fastball showed great sink and fade and is the first I have seen that is comparable to Brandon Webb's when it is on. His changeup is his best off-speed offering and is above average/borderline plus with it great fade and it looks like a fastball out of his hand. His slider was flat and he only threw one. His curveball is a 12-6 offering that is more of a get ahead pitch then a put away pitch. Cahill still has some issues in regards to commanding his stuff within the strike zone and will likely have a little steeper learning curve for command then his peers due to the sheer movement of his fastball. He is a groundball machine with a plus fastball and changeup. He liked to use FB-CU the 1st time through the order and then began mixing his breaking pitches in. Cahill profiles best as a middle of the rotation starter for a contender. It isn't hard to project him to be sitting at 92-94 with his sinker with his frame. It isn't blasphemous to say he could be the next Webb.
• Billy Buckner opposed him. The 25 year old who stands 6-2 and 215 pounds has a medium frame with a lot of room to add muscle. From an over the top release, he showed a fastball at 87-92, a curveball at 76-82 and a changeup at 80-85. His changeup shows some consistent sink, but the fade is inconsistent. His fastball has some movement, but the sink is generated more from him generating a great downhill plane to throw his pitches. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch that shows some bite, but doesn't consistently finish it causing it to hang up in the zone. A classic tweener, I think he is best suited as a swingman in a pen giving you some spot starts. He is still projectable, but you have to wonder just how much more could be there. Likely a guy that bounces between the majors and AAA.
• Craig Breslow made his 1st appearance with the A's and showed a fastball at 87 and a slider at 83 to get his hitter to hit into a double play.
• Esmerling Vasquez is 25 years old and stands 6-1, 175 pounds. His medium frame has a ton of room to add muscle and he is very lanky with long arms, which could make it difficult for him to consistently repeat his mechanics. He threw one fastball at 93 to get his man out.
• Clay Zavada features a mustache that would make Rollie Fingers proud. He is 24 years old and is 6-1 195 pounds with a medium frame that can add more muscle, especially in the lower body. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 87, a slider at 78 and a changeup at 78-80. Zavada's changeup shows good fade and sink and is an above average offering. His slider is a 10-5 type of pitch, but choked the only he threw. Looks like a rare lefty that may be able to get out both righties and lefties due to his above average curve. Profiles best as a middle reliever and could be a teams # 1 lefty out of the pen.
• Santiago Casilla is 28 years old and has a medium (6-0, 200) frame that is maxed out. From a high 3/4 release, he showed a fastball at 91-95, a slider at 83-86 and a changeup at 85. Casilla's changeup is a show pitch and he likes to go his sharp, late breaking slider to get strikeouts with 2 strikes. His fastball shows a little 2-seam movement. His command is average and that is what is holding him back from being a strong set up guy.
• Jon Rauch is a 30 year old imposing presence (6-11, 290). For such a big guy, he doesn't show great velocity from his maxed out frame, sitting at 91-93 with his fastball, throwing a curve at 75 and a changeup at 85-87. He generates a great downhill plane for his pitches, but his fastball is a straight 4-seam. His changeup is fairly straight and doesn't have a lot of action to it other then the velocity difference. His curveball is a 12-6 offering. He shows above average command and is a solid middle reliever who can set-up and close every once in awhile.