Grizzle hooks us up:
Divish wrote that his fastball was 91 - 97. Adam Moore caught him and said that his fastball "cuts and sinks", so I am assuming as you do that he throws a few different types of fastball (4 seam, sinker, cutter).
I know that linking another site is crass, but everyone should read Jeff's interview segments with Curto and Divish. Divish's account of the 5th inning makes me giddy. Ditto Curto's summary.
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2010/6/24/1534610/michael-pinedas-debut
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=== Linking Other Sites Is... ===
I can't imagine why a blog would NOT want a relevant site linked, if the information is useful to its audience.
Well, I can imagine: feline politics. But those don't factor in at SSI. Link away.
For any other sites -- LL excepted, obviously -- who still indulge in pithy, volleyball-locker-room "don't mention her name to me" politics, grow up and get past it. We mean that in a good way.
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=== End the 5th ===
Curto's observation is telling. The only "jam" that Pineda was in -- a walk from the PCL ump and "a soft fly ball" single -- Pineda went to "all sliders and changes" to retire the next hitter.
That is exactly how we had it pictured.
Meaning no offense, coaches and scouts have to have something to put on their reports. There's kind of an art to deciphering what is FKey7 routine scouting-entry text, an art that GM's like Zduriencik and Bavasi use daily .... not to be (unusually) annoying, but you could see this one coming down Sixth Avenue.
Pineda has been ready to blow away American League hitters since ST 2010 if not before.
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=== Biggest Complaint ===
Curto mentioned Pineda missing up with his heater.
Billy1 (CA) looked at five pitches from Pineda on video and put his finger on exactly this flaw: Pineda strides a bit too far and lands on his heel, which will indeed leave the ball up on occasion. You go CA. Always in the zone, dude.
Pineda is of course very young. Most ML pitchers don't put the finishing touches on their mechanics until they're past 30.
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This is going to be hard for Pineda to conquer, though. He has a Kung Fu "praying mantis" movement ...minimal hammer-raise followed by thunderous, flowery hammer-fall. The sheer explosion of his delivery makes it hard for him to keep his front foot back.
Solution in China would be, put something slightly uncomfortable in his shoe, under the heel, for a few bullpens.
Of course, if Pineda's trying to hit the knees and accidentally throws an "up the ladder" fastball, it could actually work to his benefit. Wild-in-the-zone effect.
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Ryan Divish -- thanks to him for verrrrrry good onsite reports -- suggests that Pineda mix some jam pitches in with his outside-corner blitzkrieg.
Yes, Pineda needs to work towards the 3x fastball attack (jam, low-away, ladder) but again we call FKey7 on the "advance scouting gets better at each level" remarks. :- ) Remember, Pineda was supposedly going to AAA because they'd "force him to use his offspeed stuff more."
Nope. 95 located and nobody's going to force you to do anything.
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Eyes slideways,
Dr D
If anything, the various mechanical adjustments that Adam Moore is trying to help with ... those almost make me wonder if such a precious commodity would be better off in Safeco with the tippy-top mechanical coaching...
With a guy 21 years old, so unorthodox in his windup, he's going to have not one but probably four or five swing keys to watch... would be tempted to get the state-of-the-art vid going on him...
Divish and Curto have both been bringing it this year. They are going to be fun to read when those AA Mavericks start getting promoted to Tacoma.
nm
Tends to tweet a lot...
https://twitter.com/CurtoWorld
His blog link is there too.
Back in the states for a couple of weeks, so I got me some SSI back...!
Goin' to go ax about Japanese whitelisting again.