Brad James

[Duman]

Brad James had his 4th start last night for Salem.  The kid is pitching great:

Last night was his roughest start of the year: He went 6 2/3 with with 6 hits, 2 BB, 3 K's and one earned run.  The earned run was a homer, the first he offered up this year.  It raised his ERA from .45 to .67 for the season.  Full stats here: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Brad%2520James&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=453592

[Duman]

Jacksonian highlighted Brad's work in his April review.  Look at these numbers since he joined the Legends out of EST last year following an injury.

Combined Lexington & Salem stats
 21  games (17 starts, 4 relief)
119 innings
90 hits
29 Earned
16 earned
4 HR
36 walks
66 strike outs
1.21 ERA

In contrast, in the two previous years at Greeneville here is his line

26 games (23 starts, 3 relief appearances)
116 innings
114 hits
78 runs
61 earned
3 HR
50 walks
86 strike outs
4.73 ERA

Something has clicked for this kid.  I hope the switch stays on.   

[Lefty]

Something has clicked for this kid.  I hope the switch stays on.

The thing that jumped out at me is his 4+ GB/FB ratio.  Up from 2.75 last year.

[Duman]

James did it again tonight:

7 ip, 1 hit, 1 run 1 ER, 3 BB 4 K

11 ground outs to 5 fly outs

Season ERA balloons to 0.80

The run came of a lead off walk in the first, a wild pitch, ground out moved the runner to 3rd and a fielders choice allowed the runner to score.  Settled down nicely after that.

[Froback]

Settled down nicely after that.

Heck that is a fluky kind of run anyway, settling down to dominate after that is about what it was.  He certainly has all the ear-markings of a potential fast riser if he keeps this up.

[Duman]

Nice article on Brad James in the Salem paper today.

On game day superstitions: " It's the same outfit every time. And the same three-egg breakfast. And the same 3 p.m. can of Beefaroni. And later, a can of Red Bull. And a phone call to his girlfriend -- she's the only one he'll talk to in the 212 hours before game time, and he absolutely must talk to her."

On his moving fastball: The question of how that movement comes about inspires mostly a shoulder shrug from Pierson.

"It's probably his arm slot or the way he holds the ball during his delivery," Pierson said.

Towles wondered if maybe he puts more pressure on one finger or the other.

"I have no idea," James said.  The pitch comes "from God," James said. "I have no idea what I do; but it happens every time, and I like it."

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/baseball/wb/wb/xp-117078

[Lefty]

Brad James with RISP:  opponents are 1-41; .024 BA

[rgs]

Brad James with RISP:  opponents are 1-41; .024 BA

That is very impressive.

Anybody watch him enough to say what might be yielding these spectacular results.  Does he go with a select pitch with runners on base? 

[Duman]

I haven't seen him pitch since 05 and he has made significant improvement since then. I think it is a result of his overall job of keeping the ball down and inducing ground balls.  I haven't seen a state for DP's induced for the minors but I wouldn't be surprised to see that Brad's pitching has lead to some of those.

[Duman]

Brad pitched last night and brought his season ERA down to 1.84.  6 innings 4 hits, 1 BB, 4 K's, two unearned runs. 

I would expect a AA move very soon.  They currently have 2 vacant spots on their roster.

ETA: Other info:

He has started 9 of 14 games on the road.  His road record is an impressive 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA.

He only made 3 starts in June for a total of 14 innings.  He had a rain shortened outing and also pitched in the all star game.  This is his first full season year.  I wonder if some fatigue is setting in?  Worth watching

[Duman]

Starter Brad James (9-2, 1.98 ERA) was called up to Class AA Corpus Christi (Texas).

"He's going into the starting rotation there," said Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits. "He deserves it. He did a hell of a job here."

Pankovits said no decision has been made as to who might replace James in Salem's rotation.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/baseball/wb/wb/xp-124392

[kevwun]

The Hooks roster sure looks better than it did at the beginning of the year.

[jbm]

Has anyone seen this guy pitch? 

Upthread, the referenced article mentions his recent success coming from the development of some nasty movement on his fastball, which I'll assume is his two seamer.  Now, the recent article quotes Bennett as saying he was 90-94 the last game.  I am assuming that is his four seamer without movement.  Can anyone verify this.  How fast is his "moving fastball"?

[Kent's Moustache]

James is making his first AA start for the Hooks tonight, at home against Midland.

[Duder]

7 innings 9 hits 4 walks 1K 1 run

James' line tonight. Thirteen baserunners in 7 innings isn't too smooth, but he got the job done.  Corpus Christi won 6-3 and James got the no decision.

[Jacksonian]

7 innings 9 hits 4 walks 1K 1 run

James' line tonight. Thirteen baserunners in 7 innings isn't too smooth, but he got the job done.  Corpus Christi won 6-3 and James got the no decision.

He also hit a batter and had a wild pitch.  The lack of control was most likely nervousness related.

[Duman]

He also hit a batter and had a wild pitch.  The lack of control was most likely nervousness related.

Brad says :

"After the first inning, I was a little jittery, but not as bad as I thought I'd be,"

Clark adds:

"I liked what I saw from this kid," the manager said. "He showed me some (guts). I asked some of the hitters on the other club about his ball and they said it was just moving all over the place.

http://www.caller.com/news/2007/jul/19/sadlers-blast-saves-hooks/

[Duman]

Think Brad was hoping for some Oswalt magic?

As for James, he stopped and helped jump start a car for a fan stranded in the Avalanche parking lot in Saturday night on his way out of town.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/baseball/wb/wb/xp-125052