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Carlos Zambrano / RHP / starter
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Zambrano is a circus. He throws tons of fastballs with varying degrees of movement. His 2-seamers will run towards his arm-side and his 4-seamers will stay somewhat straight. He'll also mix in lots of cut fastballs that he'll throw to any batter, to either side of the plate. Carlos has a standard slider that appears to just spin up to the plate when he's throwing poorly. Zambrano starts each delivery by pre-gripping a splitter while looking for the signs. Like most splitters, his will dive when he keeps it down, or float like a changeup when he leaves it up. Lastly, he'll throw a very slow lob for a curveball on occasion. 9/10/09 CSJ
*fastball(89-96), cutter(87-92), splitter(82-87), slider(80-85), curve(66-73)
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Carlos Marmol / RHP / closer
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Since moving to Chicago's bullpen in 2007, Marmol has shown a dominant fastball/slider combination. His fastball has good velocity and his slider gets very good bite. He throws from a strange low-angle power position that makes his fastball appear to rise as it approaches home plate. Despite some brutal bouts of wildness, he is currently one of the premier setup men in baseball. 8/1/09 CSJ
*fastball(93-97), slider(81-86)
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Tom Gorzelanny / LHP / starter-reliever
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Gorzelanny has good fastball velocity for a lefthander, around 90 MPH. He uses his changeup often, to both RHs and LHs as well. The changeup is hard, usually in the low-80s, and fairly straight. Tom will then mix two different breaking balls, a loopy curve and a tight slider. He'll vary the velocity and tilt on his curveball anywhere in the 70s. Gonzo will rarely use his tight slider. 7/24/08 CSJ
*fastball(87-92), changeup(81-85), curve(71-78), slider(83)
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John Grabow / LHP / reliever
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Grabow throws a good fastball that can reach the low 90s. From the left side, that looks like real smoke coming out of the bullpen. He uses his changeup to both RHs and LHs. The changeup is fairly straight, but he gets deception with his good arm action. He has what looks like a sharp slider, but he still prefers his changeup as his secondary pitch. 9/10/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-92), changeup(81-85), slider(83-86)
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Ryan Dempster / RHP / starter
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Dempster made an amazing transition from average closer to above average starting pitcher in 2008. He still throws the same repertoire of fastball, slider, and splitter, but the results have changed somehow. His fastball may be getting more movement nowadays, and his splitter looks like a better pitch. Or maybe it's his new glove wiggle-twitch thing he's doing in his windup that is creeping out batters.
Legend also says that as a kid in British Columbia, Dempster commuted over an hour each way, including a 40 minute ferry ride, every day, to play high school baseball. 8/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-92), slider(83-86), splitter(81-83)
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Sean Marshall / LHP / reliever
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Marshall is a tall lefthander that deals a good fastball/cutter combination. He owns a hard, straight changeup that varies only slightly in velocity from his fastball. Marshall also deals a big curveball that he likes to use against LHs. Sean pitched collegiately at VCU. 8/1/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-90), cutter(85-87), changeup(83-84), curve(70-76)
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Jeff Samardzija / RHP / reliever
Sponsor this player for $35/year
Samardzija is a classic ""tools"" type prospect. He throws extremely hard and is very athletic. However, he hasn't produced positive results at any level of professional baseball…. Until the Cubs moved him to AAA in 2008. He finally started striking batters out and cutting down his WHIP. He even produced decently out of the Cubs bullpen late in the year. Samardzija has fallen back to Earth in 2009. He can't throw strikes, and when he does, he gets rocked. It's hard for me to feel sorry for Notre Damer, but it sure looks like he should have stuck with football.
Samardzija throws a mid 90s fastball that got him all the hype, a straight changeup, and a loopy slider. 9/16/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-97), changeup(85-89), slider(82-84)
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Angel Guzman / RHP / reliever
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Guzman is a hard thrower that can touch the upper 90s with his fastball. Angel uses two different breaking pitches as well, starting with a tight slider 90 MPH slider. He also owns a classic curveball that gets good drop. The right hander from Caracas has used a changeup in the past, but I haven't seen one in a while. 8/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(93-97), curve(78-79), slider(90-92), changeup
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