Brian Bannister, RHP, starter

Bannister creates a problem for hitters with his naturally cutting fastball. He has good command to both sides of the plate with it, breaks bats, and gets weak pop flies. Bannister's changeup is his only pitch that moves towards his armside. It gets decent movement, but its velocity varies only a few MPH from the fastball, which makes deception difficult. He throws a tight slider in the low-mid 80s that looks like an average pitch at best. Bannister has a curveball, and will vary the velocity on it dramatically. He'll throw it anywhere between 68-80mph. Bannister is also a smart man that studies his BABIP numbers and uses statistics to help his game. 4/29/08 CSJ

Ron Mahay, LHP, reliever
	Mahay appears to be your standard lefthanded reliever. He throws a straight 90mph fastball that he works to both sides of the plate. Then he'll drop sliders on LHs and splitters to RHs. He has become a fairly successful pitcher, and even got some big cash from the Royals. 4/29/08 CSJ *fastball(88-92), slider(77-84), splitter(81-84)

Gil Meche, RHP, starter

Meche has done a couple amazing things. First, he got a $55M contract without having accomplished anything in his major league career. Second, after he got the contract, he became a better pitcher. Meche throws a complete four-pitch repertoire. He throws a low-90s fastball with a tight slider that can touch 90mph itself. His curveball is a hard breaking 12-6 type pitch. Lastly, Meche throws a straight changeup. His stuff looks filthy nowadays. 4/7/08 CSJ *fastball(90-96), slider(87-90), curve(69-82), change(81-85)

Hideo Nomo, RHP, reliever
	Nomo isn't close to resembling the dominant pitcher that crossed the Pacific to dominate for the Dodgers in 1995. Now his fastball sits around 88mph, and his split-finger pitch is more like a floating changeup. He'll try a few sliders now to get outs against RHs. 4/29/08 CSJ

Leo Nunez, RHP, reliever
	Nunez is a lanky kid with amazing arm speed. He brings 95mph gas and a good slider. He'll mix in changeups, even to RHs. 4/7/08 CSJ

Ramon Ramirez, RHP, reliever
	Ramon Ramirez is a hard throwing righthander the Royals acquired from the Rockies. He can bring mid-90s heat and uses two pitches off of that. His splitter 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 middle relief if he can keep his velocity up. 4/29/08 CSJ *fastball(92-95), split(86-89), slider(85-89)

Joakim Soria, RHP, closer
	Soria throws a decent three pitches, plus a curve. He has a moving/cutting fastball and a slider that breaks late. He'll spot his changeup away to LHs and sometimes mix in a very slow curve. He has the stuff of a starting pitcher, but has assumed the closer's role in KC. 4/7/08 CSJ *fastball(89-94), slider(80-83), curve(66-70), changeup(83-85)

Brett Tomko, RHP, starter/reliever
	Tomko has always been a hard thrower, but has never been able to figure it out on the mound. He has a hard slider and a splitter. Tomko also drops in 12-6 style curveballs. He looks like he should rack up Ks, but usually ends up piling on extra baserunners. 4/7/08 CSJ

Jeff Fulchino, RHP, reliever
	Fulchino is big dude who can bring some heat. He pumps in a dropping splitter to go with his heavy fastball. Jeff also shows a tight slider. 8/19/08 CSJ *fastball(91-94), splitter(82-88), slider(81-87)

Josh Newman, LHP, reliever
	Newman is your standard lefthanded relief pitcher. He uses his fastball to get ahead, and then throws a changeup and curveball to get outs. His changeup is fairly straight, although he tends to pull it glove side. Newman uses his big breaking curve to LHs. 5/16/08 CSJ *fastball(85-91), changeup(75-80), curve(73-75)

John Bale, LHP, starter/reliever
	Bale is a soft-tossing lefty that somehow continues to stay in the league. His fastball rarely touches 90mph and it flies straight. He mixes in big curveballs and changeups. He'll use the curve and change to both RHs and LHs when he's starting. 4/29/08 CSJ

Robinson Tejeda, RHP, reliever
	Tejada has a live arm, but average off-speed and breaking stuff. His slider is fairly flat, basically spinning up to the plate. His changeup cuts and he pulls it towards his glove side. He has been given many chances to succeed but just doesn't look like he ever will. 6/16/08 CSJ *fastball(89-96), slider(80-84), changeup(80-83)

Zach Greinke, RHP, starter

Greinke deals the basic four pitches, but they can be devastating. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and he throws it with decent command. He seems to have a tendency to work his arm side with the fastball (away from LHs, inside to RHs). Zach's changeup gets good movement and he'll throw it strictly to LHs. Greinke will vary his breaking pitches, throwing his curveball anywhere in the 70s and his slider anywhere in the 80s. Both pitches can break hard. Zach has had a crazy up-and-down career so far, but is finally pitching consistently in 2008. 8/30/08 CSJ *fastball(90-96), slider(83-89), curve(73-80), changeup(83-88)

Joel Peralta, RHP, reliever

Peralta is very deliberate on the mound, putting everything into each pitch. He deals a straight fastball to go with some good secondary pitches. He has a split-finger pitch that can dive under bats and he is unafraid to throw it to both LHs and RHs. Jo-el will also throw a tight, upper-80s slider and a hard upper-70s curve. Peralta has also been willing to vary his arm angles, especially when throwing his slider. 8/30/08 CSJ *fastball(90-93), splitter(80-83), slider(85-88), curve(77-80)