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Heath Bell, RHP, closer
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Heath Bell is a big dude and brings big heat. He throws a hard, heavy fastball and a hard breaking ball. He doesn't usually fool anyone, batters know what's coming and he challenges them. His breaking ball gets lots of downward movement, so I'll call it a curveball. He has been known to try a few changeups and has even tried a split-finger pitch, but any off-speed offering is rare. Bell has gone from Omar Minaya castoff to one of the top relief pitchers in the game. 4/1/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-95), curve(76-82), changeup(83)
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Mat Latos, RHP, starter
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Mat Latos was an 11th round draft pick out of Broward College in 2006, and has dominated professional hitters since then.
Latos has a classic pitcher's frame. He's tall, lean, and uses his height to throw the ball downhill, creating a difficult hitting angle. Latos doesn’t use his legs to drive towards home plate, preferring to just fall towards the batter and let gravity do the work. This makes his delivery looks a little uncomfortable, since he isn’t using enough of his body to support his tattooed arm.
Latos tries to work the corners with a fastball that flies in the low-mid 90s. He has shown the ability to pitch consistently at 92-94 MPH, yet save two or three more MPH for the David Wrights of the world. When thrown glove side, the fastball often gets some natural cutting action, which can make the pitch sail off the plate.
Mat's strikeout pitch is his 12-6 curveball. The curve acts like a true drop ball, falling straight down as it approaches home plate, getting very little horizontal movement.
Latos rounds out his three-pitch repertoire with a straight change-up. He's not afraid to use the change-up, but he hasn't shown me great command of it yet. He has a tendency to pull it towards his glove side, which like the fastball, can get some natural cut.
Latos doesn’t look like the most athletic guy out there, but I have noticed him covering first base properly, and has fielded a throw from the second baseman, making me think he’s capable of fielding his position. 8/13/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-96), curve(78-83), changeup(78-86)
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Kevin Correia, RHP, starter
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Correia's best offering appears to be his fastball, a pitch that he tinkers with often. He can make it sink and tail, cut to his glove side, or fly in with a 4-seam "rise". As a starter, he'll mix in two different breaking pitches; a downward breaking slider and a big 12-6 curve. When relieving, Correia seems to ditch the curveball. Kevin's fourth pitch is his changeup. 4/16/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-92), slider(81-86), changeup(81-84), curve(74-77)
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Luke Gregerson, RHP, reliever
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Gregerson is the ultimate sinker/slider pitcher. His fastball moves all over the place, sometimes uncontrollably. He showed plenty of promise in the Cardinals organization, moving up the minor league ladder quickly. 7/31/09 CSJ
*fastball(87-92), slider(80-84), changeup(80-81)
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Luis Perdomo, RHP, reliever
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Perdomo has shown promise as a reliever in the minors. He slings a sinking fastball that can induce groundballs, but he has trouble commanding it at times. His slider looks like a pitch that can miss bats. 4/16/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-91), slider(83-86)
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Edwin Moreno, RHP, reliever
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Moreno doesn't have overpowering velocity, but can get outs using his good secondary pitches. He has a tight cutter that he can get inside on LHs or cut away from RHs. Moreno turns over his changeup hard, getting it to sink under bats. His fourth pitch is a standard slider. However, if these pitches aren't fooling hitters, he can get hit hard. 5/5/09 CSJ
*cutter(87-90), fastball(88-91), changeup(81-83), slider(81)
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Aaron Poreda, LHP, starter/reliever
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Poreda was one of the White Sox' top prospects. He is lefthanded and touches 95 MPH with his fastball. He'll use a slider and changeup, but neither pitch looks promising right now. 6/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-95), slider(77-79), changeup(77)
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Sean Gallagher, RHP, starter/reliever
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Gallagher is an old-school pitcher. He beats the strike zone with tons of fastballs and breaks off big curveballs to get Ks. He'll operate with these two pitches most of the time. His third and fourth pitches are a slider and a basic changeup. 8/8/08 CSJ
*fastball(89-95), curve(73-76), slider(83-87), changeup(80)
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Scott Patterson, RHP, reliever
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Scott Patterson has one of the ugliest deliveries in baseball. However, he seems to spot his fastball well and drops in a slow curveball. His jerky delivery may also give batters an uncomfortable look at his pitches. Patterson played five years of independent league baseball before making a full-time switch to relief pitcher, where he has consistently put up dominant numbers in affiliated ball. 6/2/08 CSJ
*fastball(87-91), curve(69-73)
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Mike Adams, RHP, reliever
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Mike Adams continues to post good numbers at the major league level. He owns a decent fastball, but his success comes from mixing in his plus secondary offerings. First, he throws two different spinners. I'll call his hard breaking ball a slider; it has high-80s velocity and can resemble a cutter at times. His slower breaking ball is about 80 MPH and gets more downward break; I'll call it a curve. Adams appears to have improved his changeup in 2009, and is mixing in more and more of those. 7/31/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-94), slider(85-89), curve(78-81), changeup(82-83)
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Clayton Richard, LHP, starter
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Richard is your typical lefty. He throws a tailing fastball around 90 MPH and mixes in multiple changeups. He'll also show a good amount of sliders and curves. Clayton is a former Michigan quarterback. 6/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(88-94), changeup(78-84), slider(79-85), curve(75-79)
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Edward Mujica, RHP, reliever
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Mujica is a hard throwing Venezuelan. He has a low-90s heater that flies fairly straight and a biting slider. He can rack up some Ks, but has also been banged around a bit in the majors. 6/5/09 CSJ
*fastball(89-94), slider(82-85), splitter(86-88)
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Chris Young, RHP, starter
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Chris Young is tall and throws lots of fastballs. In fact, he throws a ridiculous amount of fastballs while very rarely breaking 90 mph. Then he occasionally will throw some sliders that seem to get average movement. Young shows a straight changeup at times and will also throw a couple slow curveballs per game. Chris Young was also the first male athlete to win the Ivy League Rookie of the Year Award in two different sports. 6/5/09 CSJ
*fastball(85-89), slider(75-79), curve(68-70), changeup(74-79)
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Greg Burke, RHP, reliever
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Burke is a Duke grad that began his professional career in the independent Atlantic League. He seems to be suited to the bullpen, if only because he often gets hammered as a starter. Burke owns a moving fastball, sweeping slider, and a splitter. He's certainly not overpowering, but he might be figuring out what he's capable of. 7/31/09 CSJ
*fastball(89-92), slider(81-84), splitter(83)
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Cha Seung Baek, RHP, starter
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Cha Seung Baek, a Korean born righthander, throws the four standard pitches. His fastball sits around 90mph, fairly straight. However, he mixes in a lot of junk. He has a short slider in the mid-80s that he likes to throw inside on LHs. A sinking change, and a looping curveball round out his repertoire. Baek can handle emergency starts, or long relief. 5/22/08 CSJ
*fastball(89-92), slider(82-86), changeup(77-81), curve(72-74)
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Walter Silva, RHP, starter
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Silva is a Mexican League survivor. Silva throws a mid-upper 80s fastball with little movement. It looks like a very hittable pitch, however, Silva helps himself out by mixing in lots of breaking balls. He has a standard slider that he can throw with decent command and a 12-6 curve that he can drop in. I've seen a changeup from Silva, but it was obviously a pitch he wasn't comfortable with. 5/4/09 CSJ
*fastball(86-89), slider(78-82), curve(70-75), changeup(79)
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Shawn Hill, RHP, starter
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Hill has some good stuff. He throws a 2-seam fastball that gets a ton of movement. When he's spotting this pitch, and mixing in his curveball, he is usually successful. Hill's off-speed pitch is a sinking changeup with similar movement to his fastball, usually thrown away to LHs. In '08 I have noticed Hill throwing a very tight slider to mix things up. It has a velocity close to his fastball, which should help keep hitters guessing. 5/12/08 CSJ
*fastball(89-95), curve(77-82), changeup(82-85), slider(87-90)
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Joe Thatcher, LHP, reliever
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Thatcher is a lefthander that throws from a 3/4 arm angle. His fastball gets some wild movement, while his slider sweeps out of the hitting zone. Thatcher can be very effective against LHs. 9/16/09 CSJ
*fastball(86-89), slider(75-78)
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