Chart Observations: SF @ FLA

I volunteered for the long game (was in the office at 7:50 and figured since I was already there, might as well do it to ensure it was completed by 7). In return for doing this, I was able to choose my other chart and decided on this game to see Tim Lincecum and scout some Giants pitchers that I haven't yet seen this year.

• Tim Lincecum is a 5-11, 170 pound righty. The 24 year old has a small frame that can add a lot more muscle. I am not going to go into his mechanics, as if you are reading this blog and actually find it interesting, then you have enough of a background in baseball to know his mechanics. He comes from an over the top release that hides the ball extremely well. His fastball has some fade, though the amount can vary from pitch to pitch. His curveball is a hard breaking 12-6 with great depth and bite. His change shows excellent sink and fade and is actually his best off-speed offering. His slider is thrown every once in awhile in K situations to righties and is a sharp 2-7 offering with great bite. He has plus command of his pitches. He didn't have his best stuff today, but still had a shutout through 7. A true ace and amongst the top 10 pitchers in baseball.

1st: FB (91-94), CB (77), CU (82)

2nd: FB (90-94), CB (76-80), CU (82-85), SL (83)

3rd: FB (91-95), CU (83), SL (81)

4th: FB (90-92), CB (75-77), CU (81-82)

5th: FB (90-93), CB (77-79), CU (82)

6th: FB (90-93), CB (79), CU (81-82)

7th: FB (91-93), CB (73-78), CU (82-83)

8th: FB (90-93)

• Ricky Nolasco made his return to the big leagues and is the same pitcher I saw last start. He comes from a 3/4 release with a classic drop and drive delivery, though it sometimes appears that his arm can lag behind. His fastball has some fade and a little sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering that can hang or show great bite. His curve is a big breaking 12-6 and his splitter shows good bite or fade (and throws it almost exclusively to lefties). His command has been spotty and this has been his main downfall. He will leave some pitches over the middle or just walk you on 4 or 5 pitches. He should be fine and I wouldn't even have sent him to AAA.

1st: FB (90-93), CB (75), SL (81-82), Split (84)

2nd: FB (89-93), CB (75-78), SL (85), Split (84)

3rd: FB (90-92), CB (75-77), Split (85)

4th: FB (89-93), CB (73-75), SL (81-85), Split (86)

5th: FB (89-93), CB (73), SL (82-83), Split (84-85)

6th: FB (90-93), CB (73-77)

7th: FB (90-92), CB (73), SL (81-84), Split (84-85)

• Cristhian Martinez returned from AA and appeared in this game. The righty came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with good sink and fade, a slider that is a somewhat flat 2-7 offering and a change with similar movement to his fastball.

8th: FB (90-92), SL (79-83), CU (85-86)

• Sergio Romo is a 5-11, 190 pound right hander. The 26 year old has a small frame that is maxed out. He comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows good fade and sink. His slider is a loopy 2-7 offering that is very similar to Chad Gaudin's and can flash above average, as it stays on the same plane as his fastball until the last 20 feet or so. Solid middle reliever, but is over exposed as anything more then that.

8th: FB (89-90), SL (78-79)

• Kiko Calero may be the most frustrating pitcher for me to chart just because he throws a ton of sliders. He comes from a high 3/4 release and features a 1-8 slider with good bite that he can throw anywhere. His fastball is a 2-seam with some sink and fade and his change is similar, but is below average and was hammered foul by Randy Winn.

9th: SL (79-81), FB (88-89), CU (81)

• Brian Wilson is a 6-1, 195 pound righty. The 27 year old has a medium frame that has room to add more muscle. He comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows good fade and a little sink, but it can also be straight. His cutter has good cut and sink and can look like a slider. I am not a big fan of him as a closer and would prefer him as a middle reliever.

9th: FB (93-97), Cut (87-90)

Chart Observations: SD Pitchers

• Josh Geer got the start and came from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seamer with excellent fade and sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering that is very loopy. His change shows good fade and sink. Geer likes to pitch backwards, showing sliders to lefties and changes to righties the first time through the order. He will mix in a straight 4-seam, but not too often due to his velocity on his pitches. He lost his command in the 5th and got knocked around a little bit. Geer's best case scenario places him as a 5th starter. He is attempting to be a right handed Jamie Moyer and we all know the success rates those types of emulators have.

1st: FB (83-87), SL (77), CU (75)

2nd: FB (84-87), SL (80), CU (74-76)

3rd: FB (84-87), SL (76-79)

4th: FB (84-87), SL (78-80), CU (74-75)

5th: FB (83-87), SL (77-80), CU (74-75)

• Joe Thatcher is a 6-2, 230 pounder left hander. The 27 year old has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes from a sidearm, almost submarine release. His fastball has some natural cut as well as some sink. His slider is a sweeping 9-3 offering. His change shows some fade and a little sink. He is a LOOGY wannabe who needs better command and needs to tighten his slider to be consistently successful against lefties.

6th: FB (86-89), SL (76-77), CU (77)

• Greg Burke came from a high 3/4 release and showed a fastball with good fade and sink, a solid 2-7 slider and a change with similar movement to his fastball.

7th: FB (90-93), SL (83-85), CU (85)

• Cla Meredith is a 26 year old who stands 6-0, 190. The right hander has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He is a sidearmer and featured a fastball with good fade and sink and a sweeping 3-9, 3-8 type slider with decent bite. PETCO forgives a lot of his mistakes and is your protypical ROOGY.

8th: FB (85-86), SL (78-80)

• Luis Perdomo is a 25 year old who stands 6-0, 170. The diminuitive righty has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. He comes from a high 3/4 release with a max effort delievery. His fastball shows some fade and a little sink and is a pretty good looking 2-seamer. The slider is a sharp 2-7 that can be above average or can be below average, where it is flat. I like this kid and think he can be a solid middle reliever in the bigs. He needs to improve his command and refine his slider.

9th: FB (91-94), SL (86-89)

• Heath Bell comes from an over the top release with a fastball that has a little fade and natural sink and a big breaking 12-6 curve. His fastball's fade is late and allows him to avoid the barrel of the bat consistently.

10th: FB (90-95), CB (80-82)

11th: FB (93-95), CB (81-83)

• Edward Mujica is Bell's primary set-up man and came from a 3/4, almost high 3/4 release. His fastball shows good fade while his slider is a 2-7 pitch with good late bite and his splitter shows good fade and dive.

12th: FB (92-93), Split (86)

13th: FB (92-95), Split (88), SL (80-83)

• Luke Gregerson came from a 3/4 release and showed a fastball with some fade and sink and a sharp 2-7 slider that generates a ton of swings and misses. I am starting to come around to the sinker/slider reliever and he has the ability to continue to succeed in the majors as a set-up man down the line.

14th: FB (89-91), SL (81-84)

15th: FB (89-90), SL (78-83)

• Chad Gaudin's day was up for bullpen work I guess and he got 2 innings in. The 5-10, 190 pound righty has a small frame that can add a little bit more muscle (maybe 5 pounds). The 26 year old comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade and sink and his change moves the same way. Gaudin's slider is a loopy 3-8 offering that can be sharp and flashes as above average. I think he is a better fit for the pen, but he can eat innings as a # 5 starter.

16th: FB (89-91), SL (76-79), CU (86)

17th: FB (88-93), SL (79-81), CU (83-86)

Josh Wilson also pitched (and took the loss) and he was FB-CB-CU, but why would you care?

Chart Observations: ARI Pitchers

Charted the 18 inning game today. Will talk about the D-Backs pitchers, then will have another post breaking down the Padres pitchers.

• Dan Haren is a 6-5, 215 pound right hander. The 28 year old has a big frame that can get up to 230 comfortably if he so desires. He comes from an over the top release and pauses at the balance point before accelerating through. His fastball is a 4-seam with some fade and a little sink. His curveball is a good 12-6 pitch with good downward movement. His splitter shows some fade and sink and served as his out pitch in this game. His cutter has come cut and sink and he appears to be throwing this pitch much more then last year. His cutter will flash slider movement. Not many pitchers can claim to have plus command, but Haren can as he was able to hit spots consistently with all his pitches. A strong # 2 starter.

1st: FB (91-92), CB (78-80), Split (84-86), Cut (87)

2nd: FB(91-92), CB (79), Split (85-86), Cut (87-89)

3rd: FB (90-93), CB (79), Split (85-86), Cut (87-88)

4th: FB (89-91), CB (79), Split (85-86)

5th: FB (89-92), CB (77-78), Split (86), Cut (85-87)

6th: FB (90-91), CB (78-79), Cut (85-86)

7th: FB (89-92), CB (77-80), Split (84-86), Cut (85)

• Tony Pena attacked hitters from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam and he also throws a hard slider that can be flat or can be a sharp 2-7 offering. Potential closer, but he needs to develop more consistency with his slider and better command.

8th: FB (92-96), SL (87-90)

• Juan Gutierrez finally had a game finishing opportunity and failed. The righty came from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some fade, his change shows good fade and sink but is just average and he throws a curve (a hard 12-6) and a slider that is just a harder curve and has slightly more horizontal movement then his curve.

9th: FB (94-97), CB (81), SL (83-84), CU (82-84)

• Chad Qualls allowed a home run to David Eckstein of all people to bring this game on. The 6-5, 220 pounder has a big frame that is maxed out. The 30 year old righty coems at you from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows excellent fade and sink and is a plus pitch. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with good bite and he is a solid closer, though he probably profiles better as a durable middle reliever to get you out of jams in the 6th-8th innings with his sinker.

9th: FB (91-94), SL (85-87)

• Jon Rauch came from an over the top release. His fastball is a 4-seam with natural sink. His slider is a sharp 1-7 offering with more downward movement then side to side. His change is a straight change that wasn't very impressive and his curve is a big breaking 12-6.

10th: FB (90-93), SL (83-86), CB (75-76), CU (86)

• Esmerling Vasquez came from a 3/4 release with a fastball that shows some good fade and sink, a change with similar movement and a slider that was a sharp, late breaking 3-8 offering. Good upside, but little command right now.

11th: FB (93-98), SL (79-82), CU (83-84)

12th: FB (93-97), SL (78-82), CU (84-88)

• Clay Zavada came from a 3/4 to high 3/4 release and threw pitches from both release points. The lefty showed a fastball with some fade, a change with some sink and a little fade, a curve that is an 11-4 offering with okay depth and a cutter that had a little sink and was his main weapon against lefties.

13th: FB (88-91), CU (78-83), CB (72), Cut (84)

14th: FB (88-89), CU (80-83), CB (72), Cut (83-84)

15th: FB (87-89), CU (78-82), CB (72-74), Cut (82-83)

• Leo Rosales got the win. He comes from an over the top release with a fastball that shows good fade and sink, a changeup with similar movement and a slider that is a 12-6 offering with some bite but can just hang.

15th: FB (91), CU (81)

16th: FB (88), CU (79), SL (79-84)

17th: FB (87-90), CU (80-82), SL (79-83)

18th: FB (88-91), CU (79), SL (79-83)

The Arizona relievers combined to allow zero hits in the final NINE innings of this game and San Diego never put any real good swings on any pitches. There offense is not good outside of Adrian Gonzalez.

BAL @ OAK

• Vin Mazzaro attacked from a 3/4 release and once again looked very good, shutting out the Orioles for 7 and 1/3. The right hander's sink has some fade and sink and is a hard sinker, one that appears to be like hitting a brick. His slider is an inconsistent 2-7 offering that can be flat, loopy or sharp. He pounds the outside corner with his sinker and loves to backdoor pitches to his gloveside. His curveball is a 2-7 offering that is a bigger break then his slider. He looks pretty good to be a solid # 3 starter for a longtime.

1st: FB (93-95), SL (83), CU (87-88)

2nd: FB (90-94), SL (86-87), CU (86)

3rd: FB (92-95), SL (84-87)

4th: FB (91-95), SL (86), CB (81)

5th: FB (91-94), SL (87), CB (81-83)

6th: FB (90-94), SL (83-87), CU (88)

7th: FB (92-93), SL (83-85), CU (86), CB (80)

8th: FB (90-93), SL (85-86)

• Rich Hill opposed him. The 6-5, 205 pounder has a big frame that has room to add a lot more muscle. The 29 year old lefty comes at you from a high 3/4 release. His curveball is a 10-4 big breaker that he threw a lot. It has good depth and flashes plus and is consistently an above average offering. His fastball is a 4-seam with a litle run and sink and its velocity plays up due to his slow breaking ball. His change has some fade and a little sink. He lasted all of 2/3 innings, battling some control issues. He couldn't throw his fastball or curve for strikes consistently and most of his fastballs missed gloveside and down while his curves were up or up and armside. He got squeezed a little bit and he had a quick leash on him (only faced 8 hitters and had the 8th, Rajai Davis, struck out two different times on CB's that the umpire just couldn't pull the trigger on). I still like him as a # 4 starter, but his command is his bug-a-boo and he will need to find a way to adjust.

1st: FB (87-90), CB (70-73), CU (82)

• Brian Bass was a god send for the Orioles today. The righty showed a fastball with some fade and sink, a 2-7 slider with some late bite and a big breaking 12-6 curveball from a 3/4 release. He is a very fast worker on the mound and threw 4 and 1/3 scoreless.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (86)

2nd: FB (92-94), CB (78-80)

3rd: FB (92-94), SL (86), CB (78)

4th: FB (92-93), SL (86)

5th: FB (91-94), SL (85), CB (79)

• Matt Albers attacked from a 3/4 release with a curveball that was a 1-7 tpe pitch with good depth and a fastball with some fade and some sink. Seems like your typical middle reliever to me.

6th: FB (93-95), CB (79-80)

7th: FB (92-95), CB (80)

• Jim Johnson came from an over the top release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some natural downward movement that he generates from getting a good downhill plane for his pitches. His change shows some fade and sink. The 1 curveball he threw was terrible and a hanger at the eyes.

8th: FB (94-96), CB (80), CU (87)

• Michael Wuertz comes from an over the top release with a straight 4-seam fastball and a sharp, late breaking slider with good bite that is a 2-7 offering. He battled his fastball command a little in this outing and profiles best as a middle reliever.

8th: FB (93-94), SL (88-89)

• Craig Breslow came from a high 3/4 release and got out Nick Markakis, who laced one of his sliders to center. His slider is a 11-4 type pitch.

8th: SL (82-85)

• Andrew Bailey is a legit closer. The right hander attacks from an over the top release. I wasn't sure what to think of him, but I have decided he is a frontline closer for a contender. He throws a 4-seam fastball with some fade, an exceptionally hard cutter that can flash slider like movement and a big breaking 12-6 curveball that has good depth.

9th: FB (94-97), Cut (88-90), CB (78-80)

• Gregorio Petit is a 5-10, 200 pound 24 year old. The righty thrower/hitter has a small frame that is maxed out. He has a straight-on stance with the bat horizonal just above his shoulder and has a little bit of a bat tap. He shows a short swing. His trigger is moving back on his back leg and cocking the bat. He is an utility infielder, as he will never have much power and doesn't look to be anything amazingly special with the glove.
• Matt Wieters is a big (for a catcher), 6-5, 230. The switch hitter/righty thrower has a big frame that can add a lot more muscle, though he may not want to due to losing mobility behind the plate. The 23 year old has a fairly straight up stance with a little bat wiggle. He has a big leg kick as his trigger with a cocking of the bat. He has plus raw power and has shown an ability to hit for average at his previous minor league stops, but he may take a little bit. His bat seemed slow and he was unsure of his plan of attack when in the box. He seems like he is subsceptible at this stage to pitchers that can mix speeds well or those that have power fastballs. Wieters has a strong arm and was very quick on the one stolen base on him in this game (1.7) and they stole it on the pitcher (Hill was 1.6 to the plate on a curveball). I do wonder some about his game calling, but he is a rookie and will have those moments. Give him a couple of years and he should reach his potential by then, which is probably right around Brian McCann with more average and a little better behind the plate.
• Oscar Salazar is a 6-0, 195 pound 30 year old. The righty hitter/thrower has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle. He appears to lunge at the ball in a straight-on stance with a little crouch. He holds the bat in front of him about even with his back shoulder. He has mashed at AAA, but I don't see how he hits home runs with his stance. His power (my assumption) is pull, as he looks like he could get his whole body into inside pitches. Another utility player, he probably fits better with an NL team as an occasional pinch hitter and spelling players at various positions (played 1B in this game).

2 charts and a baseball game tomorrow.

ARI @ SD

• Max Scherzer is a 24 year old who stands 6-3, 215. The righty has a medium to big frame that has room to add a little more muscle. He comes from a 3/4 release and has a violent head jerk in his delivery. His shoulder was flying open early and resulting him to miss to his glove side. He then tried to correct it and began missing to his arm side. His changeup shows good fade and sink and was the best I have seen it. His slider was the worst I have seen it, as he threw maybe 2 strikes with it all night. It was a tight 2-7 offering with good late bite, but he looked to be overthrowing it. His fastball showed good fade and sink and moves likes a splitter when it is right. He was all over the place command wise, but a young pitcher with stuff that moves like his will have these types of nights. Still a potential # 2.

1st: FB (93-97), SL (88), CU (85-86)

2nd: FB (94-96), SL (85-87), CU (88)

3rd: FB (92-97), SL (85-87), CU (86-87)

4th: FB (93-96), CU (87)

5th: FB (93-96), CU (86-88)

• Kevin Correia was the opposing pitcher. The 6-3, 200 pounder has a medium to big frame that has room to add a lot more more muscle. The 28 year old right hander comes from an over the top release. He has a typical drop and drive delivery with the hands going over his head to start it. He has limbs flying around and it looks hectic around his release point. His fastball is a fairly straight 4-seam with some natural downward movement due to the nice downward plane he creates for his pitches. His slider is a 12-7 offering that is just a harder curveball. It has some bite and he has a good feel for it. He will mix in a 2-seam fastball with some fade and sink. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 offering tha the will go to with 2 strikes against left handers as a put away pitch. His changeup has some good fade and sink. Correia's upside is a back of the rotation starter. In PETCO, he is a # 4 due to the park taking away a lot of his mistakes. He has above average command of all his stuff and did impress me with his ability to hit spots with is stuff. Could he be successful as a starter outside PETCO? I wouldn't be the team to take a chance.

1st: FB (89-95), SL (84-86), CB (75-77)

2nd: FB (89-94), SL (84-85), CB (76-77), CU (85)

3rd: FB (90-94), SL (84-86)

4th: FB (91-93), SL (83-85), CB (75)

5th: FB (90), SL (87), CU (83)

6th: FB (91-93), SL (83-85), CB (76), CU (85-86)

• Leo Rosales comes from an over the top release. The righty featured a 4-seam fastball with some natural sink, a change that is his best offspeed offering but is inconsistent with its fade and sink. It can flash slightly above average with excellent fade and sink and can act almost as a back-door 2-seam fastball. He will throw it to righties. His slider is a flat 2-7 pitch. Not a major league reliever.

6th: FB (88-91), CU (78-82), SL (86)

• Daniel Schlereth comes from a high 3/4 release. His curveball is a power pitch with 11-5 type movement and it has good bite. The lefty has a classic drop and drive delivery. His fastball is a 4-seam with a little sink and run. He struggled to command his stuff tonight. His change shows some fade, but he left it up and doesn't look to be even average. He shows a great ability to spike his curveball, but struggled to throw it for a strike. This is his 2nd pro season and he is in the bigs, I still think he has closer potential.

6th: FB (92-94), CB (77-81), CU (75-79)

• Clay Zavada comes from a high 3/4 release. His curveball is a good 11-4 offering, his change has good sink and fade and is his best off speed pitch and his fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. Solid lefty to have in a pen.

6th: FB (88-90), CB (72), CU (80-81)

• Luke Gregerson came from a 3/4 release with a 2-seam fastball that has good fade and sink and a late breaking slider that is a 2-7 type pitch. The slider has good late movement and generated a ton of swings and misses. He is a potential set-up man.

7th: FB (90-91), SL (81-85)

• Jon Rauch comes from an over the top release. The righty has a 4-seam fastball that has a little sink due to the downward plane he generates for his pitches. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 offering with good depth. His change shows some sink and fade. His cutter had little noticeable cut. He had above average command tonight and was primarily FB-CB.

7th: FB (88-92), CB (73-75), CU (85-86), Cut (86)

• Edward Mujica came from a high 3/4 release. He showed a straight 4-seam fastball that will flash fade and a split that had good fade and dive. Solid set-up man, though Justin Upton hit a 430 foot shot off him, but who hasn't Upton done that to lately?

8th: FB (92-94), Split (86-88)

• Juan Gutierrez has an over the top release. The right hander showed a big breaking 12-6 curveball, a change with some fade but was pretty straight and a fastball with some fade. Solid set-up man potential.

8th: FB (92-93), CB (79), CU (80)

• Heath Bell came from an over the top release and showed a 4-seam fastball with a little downward movement and a sharp 12-6 curve. Above average closer.

9th: FB (92-96), CB (81-83)

I am tired. I am going to bed and sleeping until 1 hopefully. Got the Orioles-Athletics tomorrow featuring Vin Mazzaro and Rich Hill (dealt my Braves extra to get that game, which ended up being the Tommy Hanson debut, but I would rather see that as an extra report anyways.)

Chart Observations: COL @ STL

• Jorge De La Rosa got the start for the Rockies. He came from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam, though he will mix in a 2-seam with some fade every once in awhile. His slider is a sweeping 10-4 offering. His change looks like a fastball out of his hand and and shows some fade and sink. He appears able to add and subtract from the pitch to make it sink more. His curveball is a big breaking 11-5 offering. He threw very well in this game and was primarily FB-CU, as he usually is. His command was solid and he was able to hit spots and get ahead of most hitters.

1st: FB (90-96), CU (84-85), SL (85-86)

2nd: FB (92-94), CU (84-85), CB (76)

3rd: FB (92-96), CU (81-87), CB (75-78)

4th: FB (93-95), CU (84-86), SL (83), CB (74-76)

5th: FB (93-95), CU (83-85), SL (83), CB (80)

6th: FB (93-94), CU (84), SL (82-83), CB (77-78)

7th: FB (91-94), CU (83-85), SL (81-85), CB (75-78)

• Adam Wainwright opposed him. The 6-7, 230 pound right hander has a big frame that still has room to add a lot more muscle. The 27 year old comes from a 3/4 release. His change shows decent fade and a little sink. His curveball is a sharp 3-9 offering with good depth. His fastball shows some fade and a little sink. His slider is a 3-9 offering that is more side to side then down. He has a conventional wind-up where he brings his hands over his head. He has plus command of his stuff, but will leave a pitch up once in awhile. His slider will flash a 2-7 offering with good bite. A # 3 starter and he has the potential to be a strong # 2 if he can increase his fastball velocity a little more.

1st: FB (91-93), CB (75), CU (81-82)

2nd: FB (89-94), SL (81-87), CB (73-75), CU (82-83)

3rd: FB (90-93), SL (85-88), CB (73-76), CU (82)

4th: FB (90-93), CB (71-75), CU (82)

5th: FB (88-91), SL (84), CB (74)

6th: FB (88-92), SL (85-87), CB (72-74), CU (80)

7th: FB (87-89)

• Josh Fogg finished the game for the Rockies. He showed a 2-seam fastball that ahd some fade and sink, a cutter with good cut, a slider that was a big breaking 2-7 pitch and a change with good fade and a little sink.

7th: FB (89), Cut (85-86)

8th: FB (86-87), Cut (83-85), SL (77)

9th: FB (86-88), Cut (85), CU (79-80)

• Dennys Reyes is a 32 year old left hander who stands 6-3, 250. He has a medium to big frame that is maxed out and there may be some bad weight there. He comes from a high 3/4 release, almost 3/4. His fastball has good hard fade in on the hands of lefties. He had no command in this outing and even walked De La Rosa with the bases loaded on 5 pitches. Everything was missing gloveside or down and appeared to be flying open.

7th: FB (89-91)

• Jason Motte is a 26 year old who stands 6-0, 195. The right hander has a medium frame that can add a little more muscle in the lower body. He has a high 3/4 release with a drop and drive delivery where he jumps at hitters. It is max effort that helps him generate his plus velocity and the mechanics are similar to those of Tim Lincecum from the stretch, but to a lesser extent. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His cutter could be a hard SL, but it has little downward movement but moves across half the plate. His slider was a spinner with a little bite. Still a future closer in my eyes with his velocity, but he needs to find a consistent off-speed offering. He has slightly above average command.

7th: FB (94-98), Cut (91-92), SL (80)

• Jess Todd made his major league debut last night. The 23 year old who stands 5-11, 210 has a small frame that appears to be maxed out. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His primary fastball was a cutter that has good cut and a little sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent bite and can be anywhere from below average to plus. He will over throw the pitch and this will cause it to flatten out. He has a drop and drive delivery in a high effort delivery with his back leg generating a lot of his velocity. Set-up man potential, but he came up as a starter (and has a sinker and change that he didn't show) and I would think the Cards would give him every chance to succeed.

7th: Cut (90-92), SL (84-85)

8th: Cut (88-91), SL (82-85)

• Trever Miller is a 36 year old who stands 6-3, 200. The left hander has a medium to big frame that can add more muscle if he wants to. He comes from a 3/4 release, almost sidearm. His slider is a 9-4 offering that is a frisbee slider. His fastball is a 2-seam with some sink. His change is a straight offering, just a touch slower.

8th: FB (87), SL (74-77)

9th: FB (86-88), CU (83)

Scherzer vs. Correia tonight after a baseball game.

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).

COL @ HOU

• Wandy Rodriguez is a 5-11, 195 pound 30 year old. The left hander has a small frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam with some run. His change is a straight change with some sink. His curveball is an 11-4 type pitch that can be inconsistent with break, ranging anywhere from plus to average. The plus curve has great depth and just falls off the table, while the average ones tend to look like slurves. He has a classic drop and drive delivery and cocks his arm a little, as it stays up at the top of the arm circle longer then most. He struggled with his command, leaving a lot of fastballs belt high and throwing a ton of curveballs belt high. He had allowed 1 home run all season (something like 65 innings) and proceeded to allow 4 (Atkins twice, Spilborghs, Hawpe). Wandy is a # 3 starter at best. His main issue is that he is primarily FB-CB. These 2 pitches have enough speed difference that you can sit on one and still be able to foul the other off if he throws it. He was pitching over his head at the beginning of the season.

1st: FB (89-92), CB (77-79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (90-92), CB (75-78), CU (85-86)

3rd: FB (88-92), CB (75-79), CU (85-86)

4th: FB (89-92), CB (74-76)

5th: FB (85-90), CB (75-78), CU (84)

• Jason Hammel was acquired by the Rockies after he lost his bid against Jeff Niemann for the 5th spot in the Rays rotation. The 6-6, 220 pound right hander has a big frame that has room to add more muscle. The 26 year old comes at you from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His change shows good fade and sink and will throw it to right handers. It will flash plus with excellent sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch with good bite and depth. It has some good late downward action as well. His slider is a 2-7 offering with some bite and depth. The slider is just a harder thrown curve. He showed great command and had a loose arm with a little wrist circle while he was in his arm circle. Hammel's upside is that of a # 2 starter, but his realistic ceiling is a # 3. He can add quite a bit more muscle to his frame and has a good array of pitches.

1st: FB (92-94), SL (84), CB (76), CU (85)

2nd: FB (93-94), SL (83-84), CB (78), CU (85)

3rd: FB (91-94), CB (76-77), CU (85)

4th: FB (92-94), SL (83-85), CB (77), CU (85)

5th: FB (91-94), CB (77-78), CU (83-85)

6th: FB (93), SL (85)

7th: FB (91-93), CB (76-77), CU (83-84)

• Russ Ortiz was the 1st of two Houston long relievers that I am better off without seeing. He came from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 big breaker with average break. His change is straight with a little fade and sink and is more of a show pitch. His cutter has good late action in on lefties and is an effective weapon. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite. I guess he can be solid as a long man, but isn't there someone in their system that can do that?

6th: FB (88-91), CB (75-77), CU (81), Cut (89-91)

7th: FB (90-92), CB (74-78), Cut (87-90), SL (86)

• Brandon Backe was the other. Remember when he was a good starter? Neither does anyone else. The 6-0, 195 pound right hander has a medium frame that can add more muscle. The 31 year old featured a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade, but is just an average offering. He really struggled to command the fastball and left them up, away, down and in. His slider is a 2-7 offering with average bite. His curveball is 12-6 with good late bite and depth. His cutter doesn't do much to the naked eye. Another guy who I guess could be a good long man. The Astros need to find some guys that actually have some upside to throw these meaningless innings in my opinion.

8th: FB (89-91), Cut (88-89), SL (81-83), CB (75)

9th: FB (86-90), CB (75)

• Jason Grilli continued his struggles. Coming from a high 3/4 release, the right hander showed a fastball with some fade, a slider that can be anywhere from average to plus and a change with some fade but little sink. His fastball is slightly above average and his slider can be anything on a given day, as his plus slider moved across nearly the entire plate with good bite while his average sliders had just a little bite . Solid middle reliever who has been battling his command and continued to do so tonight.

8th: FB (92-95), SL (82-87), CU (85-86)

• Alan Embree is what he always is, a left hander who pitches from a high 3/4 release with a 4-seam fastball with some run and a 11-4 slider with good bite. He can keep this up as long as he maintains his velocity. Take out the 88 pitch and he was 92-94 with his heat.

9th: FB (88-94), SL (77-80)

• Edwin Bellorin is a 27 year old catcher who was the guy to take Chris Iannetta's spot for the next week or so. The 5-9, 225 pounder has a small frame that is maxed out. He has an open stance with a little bat wiggle. He holds the bat similar to Matt Stairs with some cocking action, which is his trigger combined with a stride. His swing can get a little long. He doesn't look to profile well as anything more then a back-up catcher, as his bat looked fringy with slightly below average pop and may struggle to catch up to plus fastballs. He presented a big target to throw to and looked like he called a pretty good game. Who knows if he will gain membership into the 10 year back-up catcher club started by Tim Laker?

Off tomorrow!!!! Thank God. I need sleep. Got a baseball game though, so it's not like I have nothing to do. One of these days, I will.

One of the games on my get to watch list (going to try and watch it Sunday) is Vin Mazzaro's major league debut.

Another Opinion on the McLouth Trade

Why not, I have a forum to utilize. Take my opinion as the same you would Peter Gammons, Buster Olney, etc., as I know as much as they do in regards to this trade and who won, nothing.

Braves Side:
So many Pirates fans are going to be up in arms over the loss of Nate McLouth, a "5-tool player" who was an All-Star last season. In looking at Nate's numbers from last season (,276-.356-.497, 26 HR's -94 RBI's, 23/26 SB's) he was an All-Star. You do have to remember that McLouth played half his games last season in a park designed for lefties (where he slugged 20 points better, I admittedly thought it would be higher). In the 2nd half last season, he hit .270-.355-.426. This season he is hitting .256-.349-.470 with 9 HR's and 34 RBI's and is 7-7 on steals. He was a gold glove defender last year, but I personally think Schafer is better defensively. McLouth gives the Braves a legitimate CF bat which they haven't had yet this year and they have him under control for awhile (I believe 3 years). If Schafer can figure things out, McLouth can move to an OF corner and maintain average production for the position.

Pirates Side:
Pittsburgh seems to value quantity over quality. In their big deal at the deadline last season, they seemed to focus on getting raw numbers back. In this deal, they picked up Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke and, the main guy, Gorkys Hernandez. The Pirates really could have used picking up a potential ace (especially since the ace they picked up in the Bay deal, Bryan Morris, is not expected to start pitching until late June due to significantly restricted range of motion in his right shoulder), but teams are shying away from dealing their young pitching. The Pirates have appeared to focus on getting close to major league ready arms, take a flier on a guy in the low minors and get toolsy outfielders.

Morton did not impress me in his brief major league debut last season. The right hander has pitched very well at Gwinnett (AAA) however, going 7-2, 2.51 with 55 strikeouts and 16 walks. He is 6-4, 190, so he still has room to grow and his upside is that of a middle of the rotation (# 3 starter).

Locke was one of the pitchers I saw when I worked for Columbus last season and I wasn't that impressed. The hitters in high A haven't been impressed either, as Locke went 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA at Myrtle Beach, though he does have 43 strikeouts (against 26 walks) in 45 and 2/3 innings. I personally thought Locke was a fringe major leaguer, but I admit seeing him before I really focused on scouting guys.

Hernandez is the prize of this deal. Another 5 tool outfielder, he was hitting .316-.361-.387 at the time of the trade in AA Mississippi. He is very raw, as he is 10/18 on steals and has 15 walks against 54 strikeouts in 212 at bats. His lack of power has to be a little disturbing due to the other players the Pirates have coming up (more on that below), but he should be a major leaguer and that is as far as I can go on him, as I have never seen him play and am going off what I read.

Pittsburgh now has the potential to run out an OF of Andrew McCutchen (.303-.361-.493 at AAA prior to his call-up with 10 stolen bases), Hernandez and Jose Tabata (.250-.324-.297 at AA Altoona) in the next year and a half if all goes according to plans. All are fast, but all have question marks in regards to power. With the game shifting towards a speed based, defense oriented team, this looks like an outfield designed to save a lot of runs.

Chart Observations: MIL @ FLA

• Braden Looper is a 34 year old who stands 6-3, 235. The right hander has a medium to big frame that is maxed out. His fastball is a 2-seam with late fade. His split shows good dive and sink. His slider is a 2-8 type offering that wasn't on at all. He has a somewhat violent head jerk and also appears to jerk most of his body. Looper was primarily FB-Split (40 %- 35 %) and his slider did not have good movement today. This left him with 2 pitches the 2nd and 3rd times through the order and he began to get pounded. A pitcher that needs to have all 3 of his pitches to be at least average to have a chance at a successful start, Looper is the 3rd 5th starter on the Brewers I saw in this series (Parra, Suppan).

1st: FB (86-90), SL (84-85), Split (81-82)

2nd: FB (88-90), SL (86), Split (83-84)

3rd: FB (89-90), SL (84), Split (82-84)

4th: FB (88-89), SL (84), Split (80-83)

5th: FB (88-90), SL (83-85), Split (78-83)

• Sean West opposed him. I have seen all of West's starts and this was by far his worst one. West comes from a high 3/4 release. His change is straight with some sink. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with some run. His slider is a 2-7 offering with some bite, but was loopy. He was missing down and in with his fastball early. He almost looked to be guiding the ball instead of throwing it and really struggled with his command. His slider looked fringy in this outing and his change was just a tick above average while his fastball velocity was down. Just a bad outing that was made worst by Penn.

1st: FB (90-92), SL (80-81), CU (83)

2nd: FB (87-90), CU (81)

3rd: FB (88-91), SL (80-82), CU (80-84)

4th: FB (86-90), CU (81-84)

5th: FB (89), SL (81), CU (79-83)

• Hayden Penn was the 2nd reliever in this series to be cast away after an outing (Julio). Penn has a high 3/4 release and shows a fastball with some fade and a 12-6 curveball that is inconsistent, but will flash above average. He has a fairly violent head jerk in his delivery, which may cause some of the command issues. He has no command, but strikeout stuff. His numbers say it all (22 IP, 20 BB, 27 K) and he will get more chances.

5th: FB (88-92), CB (73-77)

• Brian Sanches attacked from a high 3/4 release. The right hander showed a fastball with some run or fade (depending on what he felt like doing) with sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite and his curve was thrown over the head of J.J. Hardy.

5th: FB (88-89), SL (82-83)

6th: FB (87-89), SL (78-83), CB (72)

• Seth McClung served as the bridge from Looper to Hoffman. He had an over the top release and showed a sharp slider that is a 2-7 offering that flashes plus with great bite, a straight fastball, though me mixed in a 2-seam with good fade and sink, mostly to lefties. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6. His change shows some fade and sink (and could be a splitter), but the one he threw went about 54 feet.

5th: FB (93-95), SL (83)

6th: FB (91-95), CB (76-79)

7th: FB (91-95), SL (81-84)

8th: FB (92-96), SL (83-84), CB (78), CU (85)

• Kiko Calero came from an over the top release with a fastball that had some fade and sink and a 2-7 slider that continues to show good bite. He has plus command of the slider and threw about 70 % in this outing, as is typical for him.

7th: FB (90-91), SL (79-83)

8th: FB (89-91), SL (80-82)

• Dan Meyer attacked from a high 3/4 release. He featured a sweeping slider that is a 10-4 offering with decent bite, though it can move more like a cutter. He also showed a straight 4-seam fastball and a change that had some fade and sink, though it was fairly straight.

9th: FB (90-91), SL (82-84), CU (78-80)

• Trevor Hoffman is a 41 year old who stands 6-0, 220. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He attacks from an over the top release. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. He still has his lights out change, as it looks like a fastball out of his hand and almost appears to hang there. It shows above average sink and average fade. Hoffman doesn't have long left and I wouldn't like him as my closer due to his lack of real swing and miss stuff. He did give up a couple of hard hit line drives that turned into outs and I personally think this is his last season.

9th: FB (84-86), CU (72-73)

• Alejandro De Aza is a 6-0, 175 pound outfielder. The lefty hitter/thrower has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. The 25 year old has an open stance with a little crouch. He has the slap hitter trigger, as his body moves forward while his hands stay back. He chased 2 splitters from Looper out of the zone in his 1st AB and Looper made him swing and miss on his good splitters (he threw quite a few bad ones). De Aza showed above average speed and an average arm. Your classic 4th OF potential, as I would be shocked if he ever hit more then 5 home runs (and hasn't yet done it in the minors). He is a slap hitter that doesn't seem to be skilled in pitch recognition or fast enough to make a defense change how to defense him. AAA OF is his more likely ceiling (think Freddy Guzman but slower. Yea, that isn't a great package)

Reliever Study Update:

DL Database is complete and all the pitcher's DL information has been entered into my main pitcher datasheet. There are 2 columns in there, days missed due to an arm injury and days missed to a non-throwing arm injury. This will allow me to compare players returning from a prolonged injury to the arm, not to the hip or back and see the likelihood a player can return to his previous success.

Also have completely finished the modifying of the pitch type data and it is ready for it's basic calculations (% regression for those that throw over 80 % FB's for example) and will get deeper. I am hoping these single pitch evaluations will help lead me to a weight system to quantify the impact throwing these pitches has on a player's arm (For example, every % fastball is 1, every percent slider is 4, etc.). Then similarity scores can be made based off a pitcher's repetoire "score". That is my basic hope though, we will see what happens.

Got the Stros-Rockies tonight featuring 2 pitchers I haven't yet seen, but have wanted to: the Rockies Jason Hammel and the Astros Wandy Rodriguez.

PHI @ SD

Am supposed to make my Happ report detailed. As if my scouting reports aren't detailed enough...

• J.A. Happ is a 26 year old who stands 6-6, 200. The left hander has a big frame that can add a ton more muscle and can probably get up to 215 very comfortably. He comes from a high 3/4 release. He pauses when he is at the bottom of the arm circle with a straight arm. His arm action is similar to that of Ubaldo Jimenez, though not to as big of an extent. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with a little run, though he will also mix in a 2-seamer with a little fade. His cutter is similar to Jamie Moyer's, in that it moves and looks more like a slider on most occasions. It can be anywhere from a 2-7 to a straight side to side pitch. His curveball is a big breaking 11-5 offering that he didn't throw much, but is a pitch he will need to be succesful as a starter. His changeup looks like a fastball out of his hand with good sink and fade, but he didn't throw any after Nick Hundley singled off it. His cutter looks like a fastball out of his hand, but keeps going down. His cutter is his out pitch, but it isn't a swing and miss offering. Likes to throw high fastballs with an 0-2 count or throw a cutter. Looks like he could be a back of the rotation starter, as his frame shows the ability to add a ton more muscle and add velocity. Strikes me as a classic pitching tweener though, one who doesn't have enough pitches to be a starter and no true out pitch to be a strong reliever.

1st: FB (88-90), Cut (82-84), CB (73)

2nd: FB (89-92), Cut (83-85), CU (79-81)

3rd: FB (88-92), Cut (82-85)

4th: FB (88-91), Cut (82-85)

5th: FB (88-91), Cut (80), CB (75)

6th: FB (88-92), Cut (83-85)

7th: FB (87-91), Cut (81-82)

• Chris Young is a 30 year old who stands 6-10, 280. The right hander has a big frame that appears to be maxed out. His gloves goes really high after separation, way over his head. He comes from an over the top release. His fastball has some cutter movement to it while his slider is a 2-7 pitch that can be inconsistent break-wise. He can hang some spinning sliders. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 pitch that he doesn't throw enough, though it is a little loopy. His command can be inconsistent and he can leave fastballs up. PETCO forgives a lot of his mistakes and I believe he could only be a major league starter playing half his home games at PETCO.

1st: FB (85-89), SL (78-79), CU (79), CB (70)

2nd: FB (85-87), SL (75-78), CU (79)

3rd: FB (85-87), SL (77-78), CU (75-77), CB (68)

4th: FB (84-87), SL (75-76)

5th: FB (85-86), SL (74-78), CU (73-75)

6th: FB (84-86)

• J.C. Romero is a 33 year old who stands 5-11, 205. This was the left hander's first appearance since being suspended for steroids. He has a small frame that is maxed out. He comes from a high 3/4 release, though he will drop down to 3/4 and will go sidearm to throw 0-2 sliders to lefties. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade and sink. His change shows some fade and sink. His slider is a 10-4 offering that can be slurvy. He has a classic drop and drive delivery as a reliever. Solid reliever who can bounce between quite a few roles in a pen.

8th: FB (91-94), SL (80-83), CU (78-81)

9th: FB (91-93), SL (82)

• Ryan Madson finished the game for the Phils. The right hander showed a high 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball and one changeup that was in the dirt.

9th: FB (95-96), CU (83)

• Greg Burke attacked hitters from a high 3/4 release. His fastball has good fade and movement. His slier is a 2-7 offering that is average. He is your classic sinker/slider reliever. He did not have his best command tonight and got hit harder then he had been.

7th: FB (89-91), SL (82-83)

• Luke Gregerson attacked from a 3/4 release with a fastball that showed excellent fade and sink, a sharp 2-7 slider and a changeup with good fade and sink.

8th: FB (91-92), SL (81-85), CU (80)

• Edward Mujica attacked from a 3/4 release with a straight 4-seam fastball, a 2-7 slider with good bite and a split with above average fade and sink. He had good command of his off speed stuff for the most part tonight, though struggled to hit spots with his fastball.

9th: FB (92-94), SL (81-86), Split (87-88)

• Will Venable has returned to the big leagues. The 26 year old who stands 6-2, 210 has a medium frame with room to add more muscle. The lefty hitter/swinger has a slightly open stance. He just doesn't look comfortable in the box. He holds his hands a little behind him and a touch in front of his body. His trigger is a little toe turn. He has an average arm and average speed. He has a double trigger in his swing, as he cocks the bat twice and his swing can get long as a result. He dropped a ball in LF and missed a mistake pitch that he should have hammered. A 4th OF who will need to show a lot more to stick in the bigs.

Chart Observations: MIL @ FLA

• Manny Parra is a 26 year old who stands 6-3, 215. The left hander has a medium to big frame that can add at least another 10 pounds of muscle. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with some run, though he will mix in a 2-seam fastball with some sink and fade. His changeup shows some fade and a little sink. His splitter shows good dive and run and is his out pitch. His curveball is a big breaking 11-4 offering. His slider is not thrown often and is a 10-4 type offering. He likes to pitch with FB-CU-CB until 2 strikes, when he will look to bury a splitter. Parra's main issue is consistency with his command. He tends to fall behind early or throw too hittable of strikes early in the count. His ceiling is that of a # 3 starter, though he is currently a # 5. His fastball is average and has lost some velocity. His split, change and curve are slightly above average offerings. He needs command.

1st: FB (87-91), CB (75), Split (81-84), CU (80)

2nd: FB (88-91), CB (75), Split (82), CU (83-84)

3rd: FB (88-91), CB (74-75), Split (81-84), CU (82-85), SL (83)

4th: FB (88-91), CB (74-75), Split (83), CU (82-84)

• Anibal Sanchez, a 6-0 180 pound 25 year old, opposed him. This was Sanchez's first start since coming off the DL and was pulled after 3 innings due to his pitch count. The right hander has a medium frame that has room to add a little more muscle. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seam with good fade and sink and it also flashes some cut as opposed to fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with very subtle bite and it can be late breaking. His change is fairly straight with some fade and sink. His curveball is a 1-7 offering that he really struggled to get into the zone and left them up. He really only has 4 average pitches and doesn't have a real out pitch. # 4 starter is his ceiling and he is currently a # 5. He needs to refine his command to reach his potential.

1st: FB (91-94), SL (82-87), CB (74-77), CU (82-85)

2nd: FB (88-94), CU (81-83)

3rd: FB (86-91), SL (82-84), CB (76)

• Burke Badenhop threw 5 innings in relief to get the win. The right hander attacked from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 2-seam with excellent fade and some sink. The change shows good fade and sink while his slider is a 3-8, 3-9 offering with some late bite. Still struggle to understand how he gets people out, but looks to be a long man similar to that of Brad Thompson, able to get outs with less then stellar stuff.

4th: FB (88-91), SL (81), CU (83-86)

5th: FB (86-89), SL (78-81)

6th: FB (87-90), SL (79), CU (80-82)

7th: FB (86-89), CU (81)

8th: FB (85-89), SL (77)

• Mike Burns was in to pitch in the first game he was part of the Brewers after being recalled from AAA Nashville. Burns is a 30 year old right hander who stands 6-1, 210. He has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes at you from an over the top release. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent bite and depth. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with a little sink. His curveball is a big 12-6 offering with good depth. His split shows average fade and sink. He likes to start the slider on the corner and have it break off the plate. He has above average command, but is a 4-A pitcher and I don't think he has enough stuff to be a long reliever.

5th: FB (88-89), SL (80-82), CB (70), Split (82)

6th: FB (86-88), SL (79), CB (68-69)

7th: FB (85-89), SL (78-82), CB (68-70), Split (77-79)

8th: FB (84-89), SL (77-79), CB (68-69)

• Hayden Penn, a 24 year old who stands 6-3 200, finished the game. The right hander has a medium to big frame that has room to add more muscle. He comes at you from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam and will mix in a 2-seam that has good fade. His curveball is a sharp 12-6 that flashes plus, but never comes closer to the strike zone. His change is a straight change with a little fade and sink. Penn has a potential plus pitch in his curve and his fastabll and change are both slightly above average offerings. He has no idea where the ball is going to go. He struggles to consistently repeat his release point and struggles to finish his curveball, which I have not seen him throw for a strike. Potential to be a good setup man, but he is a guy that will likely be bouncing back and forth, as I don't think he will learn command.

Got the Mets-Pirates (Pelfrey vs. Ohlendorf) and picked up an extra with the Phils-Padres (Happ vs. Young).

COL @ HOU

Game went extras and I wanted to try and get some sleep before today, so here are my views on the Rockies-Stros game a day late

• Ubaldo Jimenez is a 25 year old who stands 6-4, 200. The right hander has a big frame with room to add more muscle. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His mechanics look tough to repeat, but he did a fairly good job and he straightens his arm on the backtake before beginning the arm circle, which looks interesting. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. his slider is a 2-7 offering with decent bite. His change has good fade and sink. His curveball is a 1-7 offering with good depth. His fastball will flash some fade. None of his off-speed pitches are consistent by any measure (command, break). His slider flashes above average with great bite, but he tends to over throw it. All his off-speed flash above average, but you never know what you will get from him start to start. A good # 3 starter right now, he has the potential to be a # 2 depending on how much consistency he can gain for his off-speed stuff.

1st: FB (95-98), SL (89-90)

2nd: FB (95-100), SL (89), CU (85), CB (79-80)

3rd: FB (96-98), SL (87), CB (81)

4th: FB (95-98), SL (86), CB (77-80)

5th: FB (94-100), SL (82-88), CU (86), CB (76-77)

6th: FB (94-98), SL (83-88), CU (86), CB (77-78)

• Felipe Paulino, a 25 year old who stands 6-2, 260 opposed him. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out and there may be some bad weight there. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. He explodes toward the hitters. His fastball is a 4-seam with some sink and fade. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with good bite and is a borderline plus pitch. His changeup is a straight change that looks like a fastball out of his hand. He likes to pound the outside corner with his fastball and start it off the plate and have it run back over. He started missing in the middle of the plate with his fastball in the 4th. He tends to be prone to big innings and seems to struggle to make the mechanical adjustments necessary to get the ball back to the corners. Still has the potential to be a # 2 and just needs to refine his change and stop big innings.

1st: FB (93-97), SL (85-87)

2nd: FB (95-97), SL (84)

3rd: FB (93-98), SL (84-88)

4th: FB (96-97), SL (84-88), CU (86-89)

5th: FB (95-97), SL (87-88), CU (89)

6th: FB (94-97), SL (87-88)

• Randy Flores is a 6-0, 190 pound left hander. The 33 year old has a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His slider is a 10-4 type pitch. His fastball is a fairly straight 4-seam. I saw him throw 2 pitches, who knows?

7th: FB (88), SL (78)

• Joel Peralta attacks hitters from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a big breaking 2-7 offering and his splitter shows good fade and dive. Solid middle reliever, though he does seem to have flyball tendencies and is playing home games at Coors.

7th: FB (92-94), Split (84-85), CB (80-81)

• Jeff Fulchino is a 29 year old who stands 6-5, 275. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out and there could be a little bad weight there. He comes at you from a high 3/4 release. His split shows good fade and sink. His fastball is a 4-seam with some fade. His slider is an average 2-7 offering. Decent command, but can hit patches where he struggles to locate his stuff. Seems to have the stuff to be a solid middle reliever.

7th: FB (92-95), SL (82-86), Split (86)

• Tim Byrdak is a 35 year old who stands 5-11, 195. The left hander has a small frame that is maxed out. He comes from a 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4 seam that has some run. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite. Solid lefty middle reliever who can get out the occasional righty.

8th: FB (90-92), SL (84-86), CU (86)

• Manny Corpas attacks from a 3/4 release that is almost sidearm. The right hander features a slider that is a 3-9, 3-8 type pitch and a fastball with excellent fade and some sink. He likes to work a fastball that starts off the plate to his gloveside before running it back over with 2 strikes. Solid middle reliever, but no longer a set-up man or closer.

8th: FB (91-93), SL (82-86)

• Alberto Arias is a 25 year old who stands 5-11, 155. The right hander has a small frame that can add more muscle. He attacks from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows great late fade and sink. His curveball is a 3-8 offering with good depth and he can add and subtract velocity to it and it flashes plus. His command can be spotty at times and that is his biggest question mark. I like him and think he has the potential to be a solid set-up man.

9th: FB (90-95), CB (77-82)

• Huston Street is a 25 year old who stands 6-0, 190. The right hander has a medium frame that can add more muscle. He attacks from a low 3/4 release, almost sidearm. His slider is a 3-8 offering that flashes plus. His fastball has good fade and sink. His change shows some sink and a little fade. More of a set-up man then a closer to me and he can occasionally battle his control.

9th: FB (91-92), SL (84-87), CU (83)

• LaTroy Hawkins is a 37 year old who stands 6-5, 215. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out. He comes at you from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam with a little fade. His slider is a solid 2-8 type pitch that can also move more like a cutter. Good reliever who has been doing this for awhile and looks like he can continue doing it, as his fastball velocity and command are still there.

10th: FB (93-96), SL (87-90)

• Russ Ortiz is a 6-1, 215 pounder. The 34 year old right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He comes at you from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a slow 1-7 pitch that has a little bit of downward movement. His change is straight with some downward action. His cutter is a 2-7 pitch with decent late bite. A 4-A arm.

11th: FB (90-92), Cut (87-89), CB (78), CU (84)

• Josh Fogg attacked from a 3/4 release. His cutter showed decent cut and sink while his fastball showed good fade and sink. Should be a good long man who won't walk guys.

10th: FB (86-90), Cut (84-87)

11th: FB (86), Cut (83-86)

• Edwin Maysonet is a 27 year old who stands 6-1, 190. The righty hitter/thrower has a medium frame that can add a lot more muscle. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle. He has a very short swing and is quick to the ball. He also showed above average speed and started at 2B and then moved to 3B when Matt Kata remained in the game after pinch running. He profiles best as a utility infielder. He won't ever hit for much power and is more of a line drive singles hitter, but he shows an ability to work counts and take some walks. He has good enough athleticism to play the outfield.

Chart Observations: MIL @ FLA

• Jeff Suppan is a 34 year old who stands 6-2, 230. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out. He attacks hitter from a high 3/4, almost over the top release. His fastball has some fade and a little sink. His change shows good fade and sink. His slider is a 2-7 offering with good bite and depth. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 that can hang at times and was a pitch he looked to bounce almost everytime he threw it. He can throw strikes with any of his pitches and will throw them all in any situation. He is what he is, an innings eater # 5 starter who has proven to be fairly durable. Expecting anything more is dumb.

1st: FB (85-88), SL (82-86), CU (79-81), CB (71-74)

2nd: FB (85-88), SL (81-84), CU (80-82), CB (72-73)

3rd: FB (86-89), SL (84-86), CU (79), CB (72-74)

4th: FB (85-87), CU (78-81), CB (72)

5th: FB (85-88), SL (84-85), CU (79-80), CB (75)

• Andrew Miller opposed him. Miller attacks from a high 3/4 release. His slider is a slurvy 11-4 offering. His fastball is a straight 4-seam, though he also looks to mix in a slower 2-seam with some run and sink. His change is a straight change that he didn't have as good a feel for as his last outing I saw. He really struggled to command his stuff and was constantly behind hitters. He threw almost all fastballs (likely around 85 %). Hard to think if he will ever turn it around, as it is difficult to learn how to consistently command pitches in the strike zone.

1st: FB (89-96), SL (77-79), CU (85)

2nd: FB (86-93), SL (77), CU (80-83)

3rd: FB (88-93), SL (79), CU (80)

4th: FB (86-91), CU (84)

5th: FB (89-92), SL (74)

• Cristhian Martinez is a 27 year old who stands 6-1, 160. The right hander has a medium frame with room to add a ton more muscle. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His fastball has some fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent, though inconsistent, bite and is average, though it does flash some late bite which would allow it to play up if he can do it consistently. His change has good fade, good sink and looks like a fastball out of his hand. It is his best offspeed pitch. He has a violent head jerk in his delivery and also kicks his lead leg straight out and may put a lot of weight on it when he lands. Has above average command and tends to throw a lot of strikes. A 11th or 12th guy in a bullpen, though he could be a late bloomer if he can add some muscle to his frame.

5th: FB (91-92), SL (80-82), CU (83-85)

6th: FB (90-92), SL (80-82), CU (81-85)

• Jorge Julio is a 30 year old in search of a new team, as he was released after this outing. The 6-1, 225 pound right hander has medium frame that is maxed out and there may be some bad weight there. He comes at you from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a 4-seam that has a little fade. His slider is a 2-7 offering with decent depth. His changeup has some fade and decent sink. He has major league stuff, but minor league control. His front side flies open everytime and he will never have good control with that. Don't even get started on his ability to command the strike zone, he needs to worry about strikes first. His mechanics need a little bit of a re-do and a right hander that still flashes plus velocity will get a shot somewhere to try and discover something.

6th: FB (88-95), SL (81-84), CU (79-84)

• Todd Coffey is a 28 year old who stands 6-4, 240. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out and may be carrying some bad weight. He comes at you from a 3/4 release. His fastball shows some fade and sink. His slider is a sharp 2-7 with good depth, though he can be inconsistent with it at times. He is a set-up man and he still has some closer potential depending on if he can improve his slightly above average command.

6th: FB (93-95), SL (84-86), Split (88)

• Seth McClung is a 28 year old who stands 6-6, 260. The right hander has a big frame that is maxed out. He attacks from an over the top release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 pitch. His slider is a 2-7 offering that is average. Likely your typical middle reliever, as he will never be a guy that will be able to consistently pound the strike zone.

7th: FB (91-93), CB (77-79), SL (84)

• Brian Sanches attacked from a high 3/4 release. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering with great bite. His split shows good fade and dive, but is more of a contact then swing and miss pitch. His fastball shows some good fade. He has above average command and may be able to stick as a middle reliever, as Florida is very forgiving to fly ball relievers.

7th: FB (87-90), SL (83), Split (78-80)

• Carlos Villanueva is a 25 year old who stands 6-2, 230. The right hander has a medium frame that is maxed out and he may also be carrying some bad weight. He has an over the top release. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6. His changeup shows good fade and sink. His fastball is a 2-seam with some fade. Good long reliever who I would like to see be a guy to throw the 7th and 8th as a bridge to Trevor Hoffman.

8th: FB (85-88), CU (80-84), CB (71-73), SL (81-82)

• Leo Nunez attacks from a 3/4 release. His slider is inconsistent and can be just a spinner or it can show late break and be a 3-8 offering. His fastball shows good fade and some sink. His changeup shows good fade and sink and is his best off speed offering in my opinion. He can get pretty vanilla, throwing FB-SL to righties and FB-CU to lefties. Still believe in his closer potential.

8th: FB (93-94), SL (83-87), CU (86-88)

• Matt Lindstrom got the save and has been dominant both times I have seen him. He has a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider is a big breaking 1-7 offeing that can be a knee buckling pitch, but he is still inconsistent with both the break and command. His splitter shows good late sink and fade, but is merely a show pitch. He hasn't shown any of the command issues in the games I have seen and is a solid closer.

9th: FB (95-97), SL (80-83), Split (85)

• Casey McGehee is a 26 year old who stands 6-1, 195. The rigthy thrower/hitter has a medium frame that appears to be maxed out. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle and moves his front leg up and down as he waits for the pitcher to begin. His trigger is a toe turn and a cocking of the bat. He is more of a gap to gap hitter and has a good short swing. He will never hit for much power and isn't a great defender anywhere, though he can play 2nd, 3rd and likely the OF. Your quintessential utility player with the main question being if he will hit enough for his versatility to be useful.
• Mat Gamel made a pinch hitting appearance, so I will hold off on my potential view for him and tell you about his vitals. Gamel is a 6-0, 200 pound 23 year old. The lefty hitter, righty thrower has a medium frame that appears to be maxed out. He has a slightly open stance with a little bat wiggle. His trigger is a small leg kick with a cocking of the bat. He was fed 3 changeups by Nunez before rolling over on one for a routine ground out to second.

1st game of the Rockies-Astros series features the best pitching matchup: Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Felipe Paulino.

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)

Chart Observations: MIN @ TB

• Matt Garza is a 25 year old who stands 6-4, 215. The right hander has a big frame that can add a little more muscle, but not much. He comes from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His curveball is a 12-6 pitch that looks a little flatter then last year. His slider is a sharp 2-7 offering. His change shows above average fade and a little sink. Garza's windup is a step to the side, a turn of his right foot, then he kicks his leg with a good hip turn (showing his left cheek to the hitter) and then he drops his hands as the leg is going down and he drives toward the plate. Garza's fastball and slider are each above average offerings with his curveball and change slightly above average. He profiles as a # 3 starter right now with the potential to be a # 2, as he has above average command.

1st: FB (92-95), SL (85-86), CB (75-76), CU (83-85)

2nd: FB (92-95), SL (83-85), CB (74-76), CU (84)

3rd: FB (92-93), SL (82-83)

4th: FB (92-94), CB (76-77), CU (82)

5th: FB (92-93), SL (83), CB (75)

6th: FB (91-95), SL (82-86), CB (74-76), CU (82)

7th: FB (91-95), SL (85), CB (73-76)

• Nick Blackburn, a 27 year old who stands 6-4 225, opposed him. The right hander has a big frame that can add a little more muscle. Blackburn takes a step to the side, turns his right foot, take a straight leg kick with little hip turn and doesn't start his hand separation until his leg is nearly halfway down (hands never move until this point), his legs then just hangs there as his release comes through and he fires. His fastball is a 2-seam with good fade and sink. His cutter shows adequate cut across the plate, though he didn't use it as much today. His curveball is a 11-6 offering with decent bite. His change showed good fade and sink. Blackburn is a good # 4 starter, one that won't walk many guys with plus command and will be an innings eater most days. His fastball, cutter, changeup and curveball are slightly above average.

1st: FB (88-91), Cut (81-85), CU (80)

2nd: FB (88-91), CB (75-76)

3rd: FB (87-89), CU (80), CB (74)

4th: FB (88-89), Cut (82-85), CU (79), CB (74-76)

5th: FB (87-91), Cut (83-85), CU (79), CB (74-78)

6th: FB (88), CB (73-76), CU (80)

• Joe Nelson is a 34 year old who stands 6-1, 205. The right hander features a medium frame that looks to be maxed out. He attacks from a 3/4 release with a big leg kick that is similar to that of Orlando Hernandez. He throws the vulcan change and it shows good fade and some sink, though his command of the pitch can be very inconsistent. His fastabll is a 2-seam that shows good fade and a little sink. He likes to throw high fastballs in 0-2 counts. Solid middle reliever, just not a set-up man as some thought based off of last season.

8th: FB (86-87), CU (76-77)

• Jason Isringhausen is back. The 36 year old who stands 6-3, 230 has a medium to big frame that is maxed out and may be carrying some bad weight. The right hander has an over the top release. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6 pitch. His cutter shows decent cut, but not like it did in his prime. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. It looks like a battle for him to throw, as he labors through his mechanics. 2 of the 3 at-bats against him went 6 and 10 pitches respectively, raising a red flag on whether he has a true out pitch. Seems like a solid middle reliever, as he didn't show any of the command issues he had been having. But, he no longer has an out pitch and will need to pitch to contact more then he used to.

8th: FB (92-94), Cut (88-89), CB (76)

9th: FB (91-92), Cut (86-90)

• J.P. Howell is a 26 year old who stands 6-0, 180. The left hander has a medium frame that can add more muscle. His fastball is a 2-seam with good sink and fade. His curveball is a big breaking 11-4 pitch that is a plus offering. His change is a straight change with a little sink that looks like a fastball out of his hand. Howell is a good setup man, but his lack of velocity doesn't really endear me to him as a closer. He has plus command.

9th: FB (86-88), CB (81-83), CU (81)

• Sean Henn is a 28 year old who stands 6-4, 225. The left hander has a big frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. He showed a straight 4-seam fastball and a sharp 10-5 slider with good bite that looks like a fastball out of his hand, but just keeps biting. A 12th or 13th guy in a bullpen and he can have his uses as a 2nd lefty in a pen. He did show a little command issues, but nothing major.

7th: FB (91-92), SL (80-82)

• Matt Guerrier is a 30 year old who stands 6-3, 195. The right hander has a medium to big frame that still has room to add more muscle, though only in the upper body. He comes from an over the top release, almost high 3/4. His slider is a 1-8 offering wtih good depth and bite. His curveball is a big breaking 12-6. His change shows great fade and a little sink. His fastball is a 2-seam with good sink. He has above average command. The more I see him, the more I think he could be a Braden Looper like transformation and become a solid back of the rotation starter. He is valuable as the Twins main set-up man, but his repetoire of 4 above average pitches seems to profile fairly well as a starter. Just saying.

7th: FB (89-90), SL (83), CB (75-77), CU (80)

8th: FB (90), SL (83-85), CB (77-78)

• Jose Mijares is a 24 year old who stands 6-0, 230. The left hander has a medium frame that is maxed out and there is some definite bad weight there. He looks like he would be a much better pitcher down to around 215. He comes from a high 3/4 release, almost over the top. His fastball is a 4-seam that has good run. His slider is a sweeping 10-4 pitch with good bite. Solid reliever who has the potential to be a set-up man. You also have to worry about him eating himself out of the game.

8th: FB (89-94), SL (80-82)

• Joe Nathan is amongst the best. The righty is 34 years old and stands 6-4, 225. He has a big frame that is maxed out. He attacks from a high 3/4 release. His fastball is a straight 4-seam. His slider is a sharp offering with good bite. His curveball is a 12-7 offering with good downward bite and is somewhat late breaking.

9th: FB (92-94), SL (87-89), CB (83)