Week 04/28 - 05/04: Ask And Ye Shall Maybe Receive vol. XI

[Jacksonian]

End of April, beginning of May.  Wonder what the new month will bring?  Thank you for a successful April now let's get to posting.

[jaklewein]

Is everything ok with him?  I saw where he only made it through 2 innings the other night.  I hope he's not hurt.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Is everything ok with him?  I saw where he only made it through 2 innings the other night.  I hope he's not hurt.

Well in that last start he got through the first 2 innings fine.  In the third it looks like he just lost it.  I haven't heard or read anything to say he's injured.  We'll see if he makes his next start which should be Sunday, May 1.

[jaklewein]

Any word on how the transition to catching is going?  I saw where he played a game there early on, think it was in the first couple weeks of the season, but nothing since.  Wondering if they've scrapped the idea, and wonder if the trade for Quintero had anything to do with it.

[jaklewein]

Couple items...I've noticed that Anderson is getting caught trying to steal bases a little more than he should be.  Hopefully this is something that he will work and improve on as the season goes along.

Also, you know how you might talk to someone on the phone, or via email, or in this instance follow a player via the box score...sometimes you create a picture of what that person looks like or how he might act in person.  For me, every time I see Dax Norris in the boxscore, I think Crash Davis...

I know, talk about a meaningless post, but just wanted to throw that out there.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Any word on how the transition to catching is going?  I saw where he played a game there early on, think it was in the first couple weeks of the season, but nothing since.  Wondering if they've scrapped the idea, and wonder if the trade for Quintero had anything to do with it.

Already asked and already answered.

The Link

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Couple items...I've noticed that Anderson is getting caught trying to steal bases a little more than he should be.  Hopefully this is something that he will work and improve on as the season goes along.

Ups and downs of the game.  We're not worried about it at the moment.  We expect that trend to reverse, but we'll also keep an eye on it.

[jaklewein]

Sorry, I obviously missed it.

[jaklewein]

Hey, noticed Pence got the night off last night...any word on whether he might be using his time off to travel to Salem?

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Hey, noticed Pence got the night off last night...any word on whether he might be using his time off to travel to Salem?

Hadn't heard, but unlikely.  He wasn't promoted after Suess got suspended.  More likely a routine day off.

[Knoxbanedoodle]

This was written about Hirsh by Spack McGrim at the end of the '03 season:

 

Quote:
As you might expect from a guy with his kind of size, Jason has a nice fastball that runs up there anywhere from 92-96 mph (consistently at the lower end of the range, occasionally at the upper end). We believe he'll gain some more mileage o?n that heater with proper tutoring and further maturation and development. And as you also might expect for someone who pitched at a Division III school, he's a bit raw (though not quite as raw as management expected coming in). He needs work in particular o?n his secondary pitches (slider and change). But for such a big guy who throws pretty hard we have been impressed by o?ne thing: his control. The 33:7 strikeout to walk ratio at Tri-City followed 126:22 numbers his junior season at Cal Lutheran.

And our guess for Hirsh's future big-league role? Closer.
 

I am wondering what kind of stuff Hirsh is throwing that's dominating the Texas League this year. Has his fastball indeed become faster? How have his secondary pitches developed? Thanks.

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
This was written about Hirsh by Spack McGrim at the end of the '03 season:

 

Quote:
As you might expect from a guy with his kind of size, Jason has a nice fastball that runs up there anywhere from 92-96 mph (consistently at the lower end of the range, occasionally at the upper end). We believe he'll gain some more mileage o?n that heater with proper tutoring and further maturation and development. And as you also might expect for someone who pitched at a Division III school, he's a bit raw (though not quite as raw as management expected coming in). He needs work in particular o?n his secondary pitches (slider and change). But for such a big guy who throws pretty hard we have been impressed by o?ne thing: his control. The 33:7 strikeout to walk ratio at Tri-City followed 126:22 numbers his junior season at Cal Lutheran.

And our guess for Hirsh's future big-league role? Closer.
 

I am wondering what kind of stuff Hirsh is throwing that's dominating the Texas League this year. Has his fastball indeed become faster? How have his secondary pitches developed? Thanks.

Despite the higher number of walks early, he's demonstrating pretty good control.  His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's with movement.  He's suddenly developed a nasty 2-seamer with downward movement.  It's development may be related to some mechanics changes Jason's made.  He's still working on the off-speed stuff (what prospect isn't) though it's continually getting better.  I think the domination says that A) he's controlling the strikezone effectively, B) his pitches have good movement, C) it's looking like he has 3 plus pitches D) he's demonstrating better consistency from pitch to pitch.

Right now he's looking like a guy who could develop into anywhere from a #3 to #1 guy in a rotation.

[ace]

Despite the higher number of walks early, he's demonstrating pretty good control.  His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's with movement.  He's suddenly developed a nasty 2-seamer with downward movement.  It's development may be related to some mechanics changes Jason's made.  He's still working on the off-speed stuff (what prospect isn't) though it's continually getting better.  I think the domination says that A) he's controlling the strikezone effectively, B) his pitches have good movement, C) it's looking like he has 3 plus pitches D) he's demonstrating better consistency from pitch to pitch.

Right now he's looking like a guy who could develop into anywhere from a #3 to #1 guy in a rotation.



Wow! Do you really think he could be a #1 starter in future?

[Jacksonian]

Quote:
Despite the higher number of walks early, he's demonstrating pretty good control.  His fastball sits in the low to mid 90's with movement.  He's suddenly developed a nasty 2-seamer with downward movement.  It's development may be related to some mechanics changes Jason's made.  He's still working on the off-speed stuff (what prospect isn't) though it's continually getting better.  I think the domination says that A) he's controlling the strikezone effectively, B) his pitches have good movement, C) it's looking like he has 3 plus pitches D) he's demonstrating better consistency from pitch to pitch.

Right now he's looking like a guy who could develop into anywhere from a #3 to #1 guy in a rotation.

Wow! Do you really think he could be a #1 starter in future?



He's got a hell of a long way to go to get to that level.  But, IMO, he's got the overall stuff to be that good.  For pitchers at his level and kind of stuff (Hirsh, Nieve, Astacio...) it's as much about consistency as anything else.  The more consistent the higher the ceiling.  And, they know this.  I'm not sure he'll reach Oswalt levels but then few do.  Notice I didn't say he'd be a staff ace, there aren't many of them.  I don't believe that can be judged until a pitcher has MLB innings under his belt.