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Josh Beckett, RHP, starter
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In a Josh Beckett start, you'll see fastballs, curveballs, changeups, and a few cutters. He'll mix up his fastball some, throwing running 2-seamers to go with his 4-seamer. Beckett's curve is a hard 12-6 pitch, one of the best breaking balls in the game. His changeup can get good sink in the upper-80s. Josh has gone back and forth between using his cutter and not using it. He tends to throw it exclusively inside on LHs, but will go months without breaking it out. Beckett will always remain one of my all-time favorites thanks to his dominance over the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. 5/14/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-95), curve(72-78), changeup(86-89), cutter(91-93)
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Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP, starter
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Matsuzaka has been confirmed as throwing six pitches, however he usually works with just four (fastball, slider, changeup, cutter). He has a cutter that sits about 88mph that he'll throw to any hitter, to either side of the plate. The slider is a bit slower, and looks like a classic slider around 82mph. Matsuzaka's curveball is usually thrown with bigger, slower break. Daisuke also throws two off-speed pitches. His changeup is fairly soft and he turns it over well. His splitter is a harder pitch, and often drops strangely as it nears the plate. Matsuzaka's fastball gets amazing movement at times, making it difficult for him to command. 6/16/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-95), slider(80-84), curve(73-80), changeup(82-84), cutter(88-91), splitter(84-86)
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Hideki Okajima, LHP, reliever
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Okajima throws a straight over-the-top fastball that is surprizingly effective. His splitter is his best pitch, getting amazing deception and some drop just before the hitting zone. His breaking ball is a standard curveball. Hideki struggled some in early 2008, as hitters seemed to finally figure out his no-look delivery. However, Okajima turned his season around and continues to post quality innings in setup relief. 8/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(86-89), splitter(80-84), curve(74-78)
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Manny Delcarmen, RHP, reliever
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Delcarmen is a hard thrower, bringing a 95 MPH fastball that misses bats up in the zone. Delcarmen also shows two plus secondary pitches to back up the fastball. His overhand curveball can be filthy, falling like a classic "drop ball". He also shows a plus changeup that is fairly straight, but deceptive. Manny is a Boston native and now the only Manny left on the Red Sox. 8/19/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-98), curve(73-80), changeup(78-83)
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Tim Wakefield, RHP, starter
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Wakefield is a knuckleballer, one of the few the major leagues has seen over the last decade. Wakefield has produced tons of quality innings for the Red Sox, but will also mix in plenty of awful appearances to balance them out. Wakefield's secondary pitches are a fastball that sinks and a slow curveball. Tim probably misses having Dougie behind the plate these days, but his stuff remains the same as it's been for years. 6/16/09 CSJ
*knuckleball(59-67), fastball(71-75), curveball(55-58)
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Javier Lopez, LHP, reliever
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Lopez is a lefthanded specialist and his gimmicky delivery can produce results. He'll vary his arm angles slightly, but he's always slinging the ball across his body from 3/4 or sidearm. He primarily uses a fastball and slider. However, when facing RH hitters, Lopez has begun to use his changeup more often. Lopez has awful command and I'm surprised the Red Sox have put up with him this long. 5/22/09 CSJ
*fastball(85-90), slider(74-79), changeup(79-81)
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Fernando Cabrera, RHP, reliever
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Cabrera is a fastball/slider reliever. He has decent velocity on his moving fastball but he doesn't know where it's going. His slider sweeps off the plate, but hitters don't seem to chase it. Fernando will use a split-finger pitch as his third option. Cabrera was a decent prospect with Cleveland before injury, hype, and overall ineffectiveness did him in. 8/19/09 CSJ
*fastball(89-93), slider(79-86), splitter(83-85)
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Jonathan Papelbon, RHP, closer
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Papelbon has dominant stuff. He has an explosive fastball that is nearly unhittable and he'll mix in diving splitters that miss bats. He reportedly calls his sharp breaking pitch a 'slutter', a mix between a cutter and slider. Papelbon's warmup theatrics, which pull Fenway into a fervor, cannot be beat. 5/22/09 CSJ
*fastball(93-98), splitter(89-91), slider(86-87)
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Jon Lester, LHP, starter
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Lester, the cancer surviving left hander from Tacoma, already owns a no-hitter. He deals a low to mid 90s fastball and a high 80s cutter. His fastball gets some tail and sink, but it's the velocity from the left side that makes the pitch tough to hit. His second pitch is the cutter, a very tight breaking ball that he deals inside on RHs and sometimes away from LHs. Lester throws a big 'Uncle Charlie' curveball that can miss bats. His fourth pitch is a changeup that he still doesn't command very well. 8/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-96), cutter(85-91), curve(75-80), changeup(82-85)
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Takashi Saito, RHP, reliever
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Saito is a breaking ball pitcher. He pounds the strikezone with tons of sliders and curves, showing amazing command. He'll throw them for strikes, or out of the zone to try and get hitters to chase. His fastball is low-mid 90s and gets good movement. Lastly, Saito may mix in changeups to LHs. 5/22/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-95), curveball(77-81), slider(82-85), changeup(83)
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Brad Penny, RHP, starter
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Despite shoulder problems at different times in his career, Penny can still throw hard, dealing a low to mid 90s fastball that he moves inside and out. His breaking ball is a hard 12 to 6 curve, and these two pitches are really all he needs. Penny used a splitter as his offspeed pitch in the past, showing it to both to LHs and RHs. However, in 2009, Penny has scrapped the pitch, and is throwing a changeup exclusively. Also, as the season has worn on, he's added a sharp slider into the mix.
Brad is a big, ugly dude, and known for being a smack-talking oxen. He seems to have calmed his antics down in recent years, but it hasn't been able to keep him healthy, or effective. 8/19/09 CSJ
*fastball(90-97), curve(75-81), changeup(82-87), slider(83-87), splitter
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Ramon Ramirez, RHP, reliever
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Ramon Ramirez is a hard throwing right hander that has surprisingly bounced around between teams over the last few years. He can bring mid 90s heat and uses two pitches off of the fastball. His changeup is an upper 80s pitch that dives under bats. Then he'll mix in sliders that duck away from RHs. Ramirez has a future in setup relief if he can keep his velocity up. 8/19/09 CSJ
*fastball(91-95), changeup(86-90), slider(85-89)
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Daniel Bard, RHP, reliever
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Bard's delivery has an uncanny resemblance to Brandon Morrow's, and both pitchers seem to be dealing the same type of stuff. Bard is firing a mid 90s fastball that shot him through the Red Sox system. He has also shown a low 80s, 12 to 6 curveball, that looks like a dominant strikeout pitch.
Bard pitched for the University of North Carolina, where he joined Andrew Miller at the top of the rotation, to form one of the best starting pitching duos in the country. 8/18/09 CSJ
*fastball(96-99), curve(81-83), changeup(90)
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Junichi Tazawa, RHP, starter/reliever
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Tazawa owns a solid but unspectacular repertoire. He deals a moving fastball in the low 90s, mixes in plenty of breaking balls, and like most Japanese pitches, uses a splitter for his offspeed pitch.
Junichi is only 23 years old and has pitched very well in both of his minor league stops. However, he has been hit hard at the major league level. 9/11/09 CSJ
*fastball(89-93), curve(70-82), splitter(78-85)
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Billy Traber, LHP, reliever
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Former 1st round pick of the New York Mets, Traber offers up a fastball in the mid-80s, a big slow curve, a changeup, and a tight slider. He relies on spotting his fastball and then dropping in the curve. His slider is very sharp and is often thrown low and in to RHs. The changeup is a soft pitch offered up to RHs. 4/24/08 CSJ
*fastball(85-90), curveball(69-73), changeup, slider(80-83)
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