Sunday Tidbits

• Props to Tony Fiammetta for getting drafted by the Panthers. He should have a pretty good NFL career.
• Charted Anthony Ortega's major league debut and was fairly unimpressed. The kid is your protypical RH starter. He had a high 80's to low 90's 2-seam fastball with some movement, but he had some issues commanding it within the strike zone. He has a plus changeup, but struggled to get ahead in counts to really utilize it. Also features an average curveball that he showed some ability to throw for strikes, but definitely could bury it when he wanted to. With some command help, he could be a middle of the rotation starter, but he is probably a back-end guy.
• Mariner's bullpen may be coming back to earth now. David Aardsma finally allowed a hit and, while he still features a plus fastball, has enough command issues to not really be a great late game option. Mark Lowe struggled to command his off-speed stuff (which is nothing new) and Miguel Batista was a fastball-cutter pitcher for his 2 innings. Once the scouting reports get out on at least these 3, I think they will return to their established career norms.
• Yuniesky Betancourt has zero plate discipline. Zero. It really is quite impressive to watch.
• I am a Howie Kendrick fan, and he has started to show signs of breaking out of his slump. I love his line drive swing and his track record as a hitter through the minors and I still believe in his ability to be an above average stick at the keystone while be an average defender.
• Jose Contreras threw well today. After a rough 1st inning (2 bloops and then a shot for a double off the bat of Adam Lind), he really settled down and matched Roy Halladay pitch for pitch. Contreras really had good command and movement on his splitter today which helped him counteract some of Toronto's quality left handed sticks. Is this an aberration or will he return to his old form? Only time can tell.
• Speaking of Halladay, EVERYTHING he throws, moves. The more amazing part is that he great command of it.
• Color me impressed with the work of the Toronto Blue Jays. Their offense has been dynamic despite the early struggles of Alex Rios (.247-.300-.370). They have gotten a huge boost from Marco Scutaro (.413 OBP out of the leadoff spot) and the return of Aaron Hill from injury (.376-.407-.624). While this offense will likely not last, it doesn't have to. The Jays likely need this offense to last another 2 or 3 weeks, when they are then primed to get rookie sensation Ricky Romero (no overwhelming pitch, but is a middle of the rotation starter for a contender) and Jesse Litsch (who threw off a flat mound yesterday and is hopeful to begin a rehab assignment) back from injury and that will take a lot of burden off the offense. The Jays bullpen also has been utilized tremendously by Cito Gaston, who today utilized Jason Frasor to get out Carlos Quentin and then used Jesse Carlson to get out both Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye. Scott Downs has been incredible in the early going and is a massive upgrade over B.J. Ryan (who was sitting at 87 in his last appearance against Texas) and may even keep the job when Ryan returns from the DL.
• Speaking of Cito Gaston, why did it take so long for him to get another job after leading the Jays to back-to-back championships in the early 90's?

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.

Greg Paulus To Syracuse?!?!?!

OH MY GOD. THAT IS AMAZING. Wait. Never mind.

Word out of ESPN is that he is 95 % going to Syracuse. I hesitate because how the heck is he 95 % sure of where he is going? Who out there is looking for a scoop and hedging their bets (Psssst, Joe Schad, stand up).

But seriously, this move wouldn't be bad at all for Syracuse. Paulus was the Gatorade National Player of the Year when he was at Christian Brothers Academy (Yep, in Syracuse) and he could be helpful to newly anointed starter (Redshirt Frosh Ryan Nassib). But, Cuse fans need to keep their expectations low, as Paulus hasn't played QB in 4 years. He would also be stepping into a situation where he has skill-position talent (Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey (The ND killer as he is more commonly referred to...) at RB and the return of the great Mike Williams to lead an underrated WR unit) to utilize, but the o-line isn't yet a D-1 caliber line. This line struggles to pass protect (ask poor Andrew Robinson) and while I like where the offense is at this stage (a lot of quick passes and screens to not have them protect long), Paulus will need to be in midseason form at the beginning of fall practice to compete for the job. Worst case, Paulus comes to Cuse and can't unseat starter Nassib. Best case, Paulus starts and leads us to a bowl game.

Here's hoping he does it and leads us to a bowl game.

Relief Pitcher Check

For those of you unaware, I am author of a long study evaluating the regression of relief pitchers (and for those of you that do know, it is growing, I am currenly adding specific pitch type and a completely redone disabled list database). Anyways, I identified my top 5 candidates for regression according to the evals and here they are with a quick stat check and my reasoning:

Luis Ayala: Posted 2nd highest Days of Rest score in his career in 2008 and has regressed each time he has posted a qualifying Days of Rest score.

8 Appearances, 1-1, 6.48 ERA. 13 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 8.1 IP

Dennys Reyes: The last time he was worked as hard as he was in 2008 was 2006. In 2007, he regressed greatly.

9 Appearances, 0-1, 3.18 ERA. 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 5.2 IP

Brad Lidge: Qualified under 4 criteria in 2008, as well as the 3-season Total IP for 2006-2008. The last time he qualified under these criteria (2006), he suffered regression the next year.

8 Appearances, 0-1, 8.22 ERA. 10 H, 3 BB, 9 K, 7.2 IP

Pedro Feliciano: Qualified under the Days or Rest criteria in 2007 and showed regression in 2008. For 2008, he qualified under 4 criteria, including an even greater number in the Days of Rest evaluator.

9 Appearances, 0-1, 4.76 ERA. 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 5.2 IP

John Grabow: Qualified for the +/- Pitches category in 2006 and regressed in 2007. In 2008, he has qualified for the +/- Pitches in addition to the +/- Inning category.

7 Appearances, 1-0, 0.00 ERA. 7 H, 3 BB, 8 K, 7.1 IP

Updates as actions warrant on these 5 pitchers.

Studs, Duds and The In-Between

With my job allowing me to watch hours and hours of baseball, I plan on relaying the studs, the duds and the in-betweens of players I have seen. I will start with what I recall from this week, but I plan on keeping you in tune with everything I have watched/done.

STUDS:
Rich Harden: Dude is still disgusting with his fastball, changeup, slider trifecta. If he stays healthy and is able to limit his pitch count to pitch deeper into games, he may contend for a Cy Young (way to go out on a limb there TK)

DUDS:
Micah Owings: I was watching the Reds broadcast of this game and the announcers were talking of how he was an off-speed pitch away from being a good major league pitcher. This left me thinking: What game are you watching? Owings is a drastically different pitcher from when he was drafted. Once able to sit in the high 90's, Owings has been reduced to a low 3/4 release RHP who sits in the high 80's. The problem? The control issues still linger. He appears to be trying to get by with a decent cutter, but I have live scored 2 of his starts this season and he is lucky to still be a Red. Look for him at a AAA ballpark near you soon.

Matt Harrison: This one-time top prospect has struggled recently. Forget the W-L records. He is a fringe average major league pitcher. With a fastball barely breaking 90 (and huge command issues to boot), his quality changeup can't get a chance to get started. Needs to start figuring something out before the likes of Holland (more on him below) and Feliz start passing him by.

IN-BETWEEN:
Derek Holland: Needless to say, I was psyched to be scoring the game where this highly touted prospect made his debut. After suffering through the likes of Matt Harrison, I was rewarded by this FLAME-throwing LHP. Holland came in and was pumping 97 mile per hour fastballs (according to MLB Gameday) like it was his job (b/c, well, it is). Very nice arm action and the dude actually had command to. But, while his fastball is definitely plus, this kid wasn't ready for the bigs (don't let the stats fool you). Holland threw only 3 breaking pitches (I thought 3 sliders, another thought 2 sliders and a change) and only one looked at least average (a sick slider to strike out Aaron Hill). Kid needs to develop his off-speed stuff, and if that happens, he will be a # 1 or # 2 starter. However, even without it, a LH that can throw 97 out of the pen tends to have a long career.

Dave Bush: Yes, I charted his near no hit game. No, he wasn't dominant. A pitcher with good fade to his 2-seam fastball that sits in the high 80's, he rarely is. He throws 5 pitches (and may I add, it is SO much fun to try and distinguish between his cut fastball and his slider) and seems to have pretty good command of them all. My issue was when he missed, he missed up. Ryan Howard could have had 2 bombs in the game, but hit loud fly outs to CF. Don't get too excited and think he has finally turned the corner. While Bush is one of those whose peripherals look like he should be much better, he is a comfortable # 3 starter who will be right around a 4.10-4.50 ERA.

Tonight is the Colorado-Dodgers game (my live score assignment) with an expected pitching matchup of finesse LHP Eric Stults and sinkerballing RHP Aaron Cook. My thoughts on them (and maybe even some hitters) when I return.

April Recollections

It has been a whirlwind first month on the job. For those of you who don't know and have stumbled here, I am a 22 year old working an internship in Coplay, PA for a company called Baseball Info Solutions. They provide a lot of different statistical analyses and all sorts of other stuff to major league teams, fantasy baseball websites and superfans that have millions of dollars (Yes, Rob Neyer is one of many clients of this company).

My main job is to score live baseball games as they occur (Oh, but this is ENHANCED scoring) and then chart games the next day.

The enhanced scoring lies on the principles of John Dewan's Fielding Bible, which is one of the many innovative things BIS (short-hand, get used to it) has come up with and is available at a store near you. We have 53 defensive misplays that can be assigned to a given play. These plays aren't errors, but they are, well, misplays. Everything from misplaying a ground ball, to losing a ball in the sun, to deferring to another player, to a bad throw, it's in there. But, because they are equal opportunity, we also have about 25 GFP's (Good Fielding Plays) that can also be assigned on any given play. These range from a diving play to get a guy out, diving to keep a ball in the infield to a great scoop and anything along those lines.

Any questions about the happenings at BIS? Let me know.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I have decided that I have nothing else to do and figured I would do a blog to keep everyone up-to-date on players I have watched and any happenings occurring in PA. This blog will talk about everything baseball that I feel is appropriate, as well as Syracuse stuff and maybe some personal stuff.

Who knows?