Chart Observations: 9/22 BOS @ KC

1) Zach Greinke: 91 pitches. (FB, SL, CB, CU). 7 strikes swinging. 4 Sliders, 2 Fastballs, Changeup.

• Greinke came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with a little run in on righties, a change with good fade from lefties and some sink, a sharp 2-7 slider with above average bite and a 12-6 curve with above average depth. He also throws a 2-seamer with above average run in on righties and some sink.

1st: FB (91-98), SL (87-91), CU (85) - SL (Youkilis)

2nd: FB (93-96), SL (85-89), CU (86)

3rd: FB (91-97), CU (87), CB (71-74) - 2 FB (Gonzalez - 2)

4th: FB (90-97), SL (84-91), CU (87-90), CB (74) - 3 SL (Youkilis - 2, Ortiz), CU (Martinez)

5th: FB (89-97), CU (86-90), CB (73) - CU (Bay)

6th: FB (92-96), SL (84-88), CU (86-87), CB (71-73)

2) Paul Byrd: 101 pitches. (Cut, SL, FB, CU, CB). 5 strikes swinging. 4 Sliders, Changeup.

• Byrd came from a 3/4 release and showed a cutter with some cut, a fastball with some run in on righties, a change with some sink and some fade from lefties that he will throw to righties and in 2-0 and 3-2 counts, a 2-7 slider with a little bite and a sweeping 1-7 curve with slightly below average depth.

1st: Cut (86-89), SL (81-83), FB (87-90), CU (81-82)

2nd: Cut (88-89), SL (80-81), FB (87), CU (80), CB (75) - SL (Butler)

3rd: Cut (87-88), SL (79-81), FB (87-89), CU (80-81) - CU (Jacobs)

4th: Cut (88), SL (80-82), FB (88-89), CU (80-81), CB (75) - SL (Butler)

5th: Cut (87), SL (80-81), FB (87), CU (81), CB (76)

6th: Cut (90), SL (81-83), CU (80), CB (78) - SL (Betancourt)

7th: Cut (86-90), SL (80-83), CU (80-83) - SL (Butler)

3) Roman Colon: 31 pitches. (FB, SL, Split). 2 strikes swinging. 2 Sliders.

• Colon came from an over the top release and showed a 2-7 slider with good bite, a fastball with some run in on righties and a little sink and a splitter with some dive.

7th: FB (94-96), SL (81-83), Split (87-88) - 2 SL (Varitek, Bay)

8th: FB (92-97), SL (81-82), Split (88)

4) Manny Delcarmen: 2 pitches. (FB, CU, CB). 0 strikes swinging.

• Delcarmen came from an over the top release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties.

7th: FB (94)

5) Michael Bowden: 10 pitches. (FB, CU, CB, SL). 1 strike swinging. Fastball.

• Bowden came from an over the top release with a fastball with some run in on righties and some sink, a change with some fade from lefties and some sink and a flat slider.

8th: FB (92-95), CU (88), SL (84) - FB (Gordon)

6) Jamey Wright: 17 pitches. (FB, CB, Cut, CU). 3 strikes swinging. Fastball, Cutter, Curveball.

• Wright came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some run in on righties and some sink, a cutter with some cut and some sink and a 12-6 curve with above average depth.

9th: FB (92-95), Cut (87-90), CB (80-81) - FB (Drew), Cut (Bay), CB (Bay)

7) Joakim Soria: 1 pitch. (FB, CU, CB, SL). 0 strikes swinging.

• Soria came from a 3/4 release and showed a pretty straight 4-seam fastball.

9th: FB (93)

Chart Observations: ARI @ KC

• Max Scherzer comes from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some late run, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a change with good fade and sink that he will throw to righties. Mixed pitches very well, but can still have spurts with no control.

1st: FB (93-98), SL (85-87), CU (86-87)

2nd: FB (92-94), SL (84-86), CU (84-86)

3rd: FB (93-96), SL (84-86), CU (84-86)

4th: FB (92-95), SL (83-86), CU (85)

5th: FB (93-97), SL (85), CU (85-86)

6th: FB (92-99), SL (82-87), CU (85-86)

• Zach Greinke is a 6-2, 190 pound righty. The 25 year old has a medium frame that can add more muscle. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some run and he has some extra in the tank when he needs it. His change shows good sink and fade and he will throw it to righties. His curveball is a slow, big breaking 12-6. His slider is a sharp 2-7 with good bite and is his out pitch. Ace.

1st: FB (92-98), SL (90), CU (81-82), CB (68)

2nd: FB (92-96), SL (87-88), CB (75-78)

3rd: FB (91-97), SL (84-88), CU (82-84), CB (69)

4th: FB (91-96), SL (85-88), CU (81-84), CB (67-73)

5th: FB (91-94), SL (83-88), CU (85)

6th: FB (92-97), SL (79-88), CU (82)

7th: FB (92-96), SL (86-88), CU (81-87)

• Scott Schoeneweis is a 6-0, 190 pound lefty. The 35 year old has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He comes from a high 3/4 release with a fastball that has some run and a sweeping 10-4 slider. Good # 1 lefty to have in a pen.

7th: FB (89-91), SL (80-81)

• Jon Rauch comes from an over the top release and showed a 4-seam fastball with some run, a change with good sink and fade and a big breaking 12-6 curve.

7th: FB (92), CU (84)

8th: FB (90-93), CU (85), CB (74-75)

• John Bale is a 6-4, 205 pound lefty. The 35 year old has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball has some run in on righties and some sink. He will throw a straight change, as well as a fastball, from a high 3/4 release. Will throw his change to lefties. He has a classic drop and drive delivery and a 10-4 curve that is fairly slurvy. More of a guy to pitch when trailing then leading and not much of a major league pitcher.

7th: FB (87-90), CU (82)

8th: FB (89-90), CB (73-74), CU (80-81)

• Roman Colon is a 6-6, 235 pound righty who didn't get an out. The 29 year old has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle. He comes from an over the top release with a drop and drive delivery. His fastball is a straight 4-seam that flashes a little run. His slider is a sharp 2-7 with good bite. Seems like he has the tools to be useful, but pitched to the middle of the plate too often. Should be a solid middle reliever.

8th: FB (93-94), SL (79)

• Ron Mahay is a 6-2, 195 pound lefty. The 37 year old has a medium frame that can add more muscle. He comes from a high 3/4 release. He shows a 4-seam fastball with a little run, a straight change with some sink and a 11-4 slider with good bite. Solid # 1 lefty in a pen.

8th: FB (90-92), SL (83-84), CU (85)

• Juan Gutierrez comes from an over the top release and shows a 4-seam fastball with good run, a change with some sink and fade, a sharp 2-7 slider and a 12-5 curve with some depth and good late bite.

9th: FB (94-96), CB (79-83), SL (84), CU (84-85)

• Kyle Farnsworth is a 6-4, 235 pound righty. The 33 year old has a big frame that has room to add a little more muscle. He comes from an over the top release with a straight 4-seam fastball that flashes run, a sharp 2-7 slider with good bite and a low 90's cutter that has good cut and a little sink. Closer stuff, middle reliever command. I wouldn't trust him with anything more then a middle reliever.

9th: FB (93-99), SL (84-90), Cut (90-93)

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.

Saturday Tidbits

Getting ready for a scrimmage in the semi-pro baseball league I am now playing in and will be toeing the rubber against live hitters for the 1st time in awhile. Hope the shoulder holds up.

But, on to some observations from last night and 2 very early morning charts

• Eric Stults is your typical finesse LH who can sit at 90. However, control issues plagued him last night as he struggled to get ahead of the Rockies hitters. Solid average curveball. Might be able to be a back-end starter, but once the scouting reports get out, it will be tough for him to continue to replicate his success.
• Aaron Cook has lost some control. His sinker is still very good, but his ability to command it is still in spring training form. Cook walked Stults twice on 9 pitches. As a guy who relies on the movement of his pitches and the ability to command them, he may be (and currently is) in the middle of a long season. Maybe he's hurt?
• For those of you that haven't seen Ronald Belisario, I am sorry. This kid is a legitimate back of the bullpen type talent. As a reliever, you only really need 1 plus pitch and an offspeed pitch that you can throw for strikes. Belisario's plus pitch is his 94-96 mph 2-seam fastball that has a lot of action. It is very difficult to square his ball up and hitters have said it is like hitting a brick. His slider is usable enough to not have hitters sit completely on it. Where do the Dodgers keep finding these arms?
• Huston Street and Manny Corpas are 2 guys who are struggling a little bit. Street actually looked fairly good last night, commanding his pitches well in the zone. However, both have a tendency to leave the ball up and Corpas' stuff just hasn't been the same since their October run in 2007.
• Hong-Chih Kuo blew the save, then got the win. Dude has plus velocity for a LHP (sat at the mid 90's) and his mechanics are actually fairly clean, so it may just be a bad arm that causes all the injuries he has had the past couple of seasons.
• Jonathan Broxton, stardom is awaiting. This dude appears to be underrated, but he needs to be mentioned amongst the best closers in the game. Poor Chris Iannetta just couldn't straighten out his 99 and 100 mile per hour fastballs last night and then waved at just a dirty slider to end the game.
• Andre Ethier has been a different hitter since Manny arrived in the lineup. Now hitting behind Manny, he is just lacing the ball. He has a very quiet setup and swing but the bat head gets through quickly and stays in the zone awhile. He may be on course for quite a few all star teams at this pace.
• Zach Greinke has been unreal. I said Bush wasn't dominant in his no hit bid, but Greinke was dominant against Detroit. The guy was locating 4 of his pitches and was getting the Tigers hitters to hit the pitches he wanted to. Just an unreal streak he has going on.
• Speaking of Greinke's opponent, this was my 2nd time watching Rick Porcello and my 1st time charting him. He has a great 2-seam fastball that has some movement (but not as much as Belisario) and sits in the low 90's with it. His issue right now is a consistent off-speed pitch. He had some big struggles with his curveball either bouncing it at the 40 foot mark or having it sail on him way out of the zone high. His changeup was strong against the Royals left handed hitters, but he had a tendency to bounce those as well. I think his ceiling is that of a # 2 starter (maybe a # 1 if he can start throwing his plus slider again).
• Nate Robertson, oh Nate Robertson. Guy is struggling with his command and he doesn't have the stuff to be constantly pitching behind hitters (even in the bullpen). If he can get strike one, he's fine. If he doesn't, well, hitters sit on that 87-90 mph fastball and tee off.
• Felipe Paulino really shocked me. I was expecting a protypical RHP b/c Houston's system is regarded as being terrible, but this guy has some legit potential. He was SITTING at 94 the entire night (6 IP) and was touching 96 and 97 when he needed to. His slider has good late bite and is another average to plus offering as he gains more command. His issue is he has nothing to attack left handed hitters. His changeup is fringy and he doesn't throw too many 2-seamers. If he can find a serviceable changeup to just have left handed hitters keep it in the back of their mind, he is a # 2 starter. As he is now, a middle of the rotation starter with a chance to be real special in the back-end of the bullpen.
• Yovani Gallardo fired a complete game win in his start and he looked great as well. His fastball velocity is right around 93 with the ability to get 95, but his weapon is a hammer curve that he can throw for strikes or bury. He also has a solid changeup that is enough to keep left handers worried, as it is straight and is slow enough (typically around 86-87) where they roll over on it and ground on routinely to first. He may not be the Cy Young winner I thought he might be this season, but he is a strong # 2 starter on a contending team and has the ability to be a legit ace in a couple of years.
• Mark Teahen's value to the Royals right now can't be measured. Guys that can play multiple positions and still be your 3 hole hitter? Hit a nice opposite field home run to LF last night and he is looking just like what he is, a .280-.360-.480 type hitter. That line would be incredible for a 2B, but for a 3B or corner outfielder, it is just average. Give Teahen his due.
• Michael Bourn has looked much better in April the couple of times I saw him. He no longer looks overmatched at the plate and seems to have an idea of what he wants to do. He is still pounding the ball on the ground and utilizing his best asset, his legs, to get singles. He is taking walks, which is something he didn't do at all last year. My only curiosity is where are the stolen base attempts once he reaches?
• Mike Cameron and Humberto Quintero had a huge collision (and if you haven't seen it, you probably should). Cameron is a big, strong guy and Quintero was up the line to field the throw and had no choice but to hold his ground to make a tag. Cameron LIT HIM UP. No way around it. It was a football collision in baseball minus pads. Quintero left the game with a few maladies and hopefully he isn't worse for the wear.
• May need to change my opinion on Bill Hall. I was never a big Hall fan (and seriously doubt he can put up 35 home runs again), but he is a valuable player. He is actually a pretty good defender at 3rd, which i did not expect. He has shown the ability to barehand balls when charging in, go to his left and throw across his body to get an out and go to his right to get an out. I believe that if Milwaukee called up Matt Gamel now, they would be doing themselves a disservice, as he would have no position and he would, from what I hear, be a DRASTIC step down from Hall defensively. Hitting won't be Milwaukee's problem. Pitching will need to be there and one of the best ways to help pitching is by having a strong defense (Seattle Mariners anyone?)
• Working in Columbus last year, I saw many fine young players who are 2 to 3 years from the big time. One, however, is fighting to get recognized now. Mike Stanton, a 19 (YES, 19) is playing in High A and is hitting .360-.448-.660. I graded Stanton out as a 6.5 (the only hitters ahead or equal to him were Jason Heyward of the Braves and Angel Villalona of the Giants. My scouting report on Stanton:

"Swing is a little slow, but should increase bat speed as he ages. Real wide base keeps weight from going forward or back. Big guy who can add more muscle (scary, as he is 6-5, 205 already). Very strong arm (7 out of 7) with accuracy. Overall, is a very good prospect who will stick in RF. 20-25 home run guy with a .260-.280 average and he will have some big years.

• In looking at it again now (and after hearing of the rave reviews he got at spring training), he may far eclipse what I set out for him. My main concern was the bat speed (as he was late on several high 80's fastballs from Jesse Darcy) and he appears to have gotten that fixed. His swing is a little long and he will always put up some big strikeout numbers (has 14 in 50 high A at bats), but his offensive production as a whole would be outstanding. That projection should now probably be bumped up to a 30-35 home run guy (though who knows how FLA's new ballpark will play) and I think he will have more big years (.280-.400-.550) then not. Things continue to look great for the player-development machine in FLA.