Went to the Frisco/Corpus game last night with Hirsh facing off against hard throwing Edison Volquez.
Volquez's fastball was 94-96 all night. His secondary pitch is a curveball. He had trouble controlling it. After a while the Hooks batters were measuring the fastball.
Hirsh had trouble in the first inning. He looked to me to be rushing a bit and leaving a lot of pitches up. He also missed inside a bit. His mechanics weren't where they should have been and you could tell by watching him come off the mound after the first that he wasn't happy.
After that, he started to improve his work. His delivery was better in the second and improved through the 6th inning. In fact he was totally in control and dominating in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. Also, his control was very good.
IIRC, Frisco batters hit the ball hard only twice off Hirsh all night. The leadoff double in the third and a flyout to Jimerson in deep right in the 6th.
Hirsh's fastball ranged from 89-93. He was normally at 91-92 though. He threw a few sliders at 83mph. His changeup was quite effective at 81.
It was very interesting to watch the 2 starters last night. After Jimerson stole 2nd in the 5th inning, Volquez looked a little unnerved. He gave up a hit to the next batter to score Jimerson, and if the following batter hadn't hit into a freak double play, the Hooks might have scored more that inning. Wade Robinson smoked a liner to short to end that inning. In the 6th and 7th innings you could see the frustration in Volquez rising as the Hooks teed off on his fastball, and he couldn't get his curve over the plate when he needed it. He seemed to fall apart a bit.
Hirsh on the otherhand seemed to stay quite composed despite the problems in the first inning and in the 3rd when he had to deal with a number of baserunners.
Aaron Williams, Salem's closer earlier this year, relieved Hirsh. He's got a funky 3/4 delivery. His fastball sits at 92. He had some control issues and got hit a bit but survived.
Offensively, Gimenez seems to have a good idea what he's doing at the plate right now. I hadn't seen him hit before. For those who have, is always pull happy? All three hits were smoked, esp the triple to right center. But, he really seemed to be swinging to pull on every swing.
Anderson reminded me a bit of Steve Finley, without the power. I'm not sure why, but he looks punch and judy at the plate.
Jimerson looked better last night than he did earlier this season. He ripped a double over the left fielder's head that had he gotten under it would have gone for days.
That's it. If you have questions, fire away.