60ft6in – Pitcher Scouting Reports

Chris Carpenter / RHP / starter

Carpenter has had a strange career experience. He’s been a 1st round draft pick, an injured prospect, released by the Blue Jays, a Cy Young Award winner, a World Series champion, an injured superstar, and now a reliable veteran.

Chris’ repertoire is still strong, starting with his heavy, low to mid-90s fastball. Carpenter features a tight slider and a sharp 12 to 6 curveball as secondary pitches. I’ve noticed Carpenter mix in some split-finger pitches and changeups, but he’s never been one to rely on his off-speed stuff. 10/7/11

[fastball(89-95), slider(85-90), curve(72-78), splitter(85-86), changeup(84)]

Adam Wainwright / RHP / starter

Wainwright throws a repertoire that consists of the four most common pitches in the game today. However, it's the results of his repertoire that makes him an uncommon ace right-hander. Adam starts everything with his fastball, a pitch that flies anywhere between 90-95 mph, depending on what type of movement he's looking for. He has the ability to throw a 2-seam variety that gets good run, while also pumping a 95 mph 4-seamer up in the zone. Wainwright will then mix up his breaking balls between a mid to upper-80s slider and a devastating 12 to 6 curveball. Adam's fourth pitch is his changeup, although it appears to be equally as effective as any of his other offerings. Wainwright possesses excellent command and control of all four of these pitches, giving him the ability to dominate major league hitters.

Wainwright was a first round draft pick out of high school in 2000. After a few successful seasons in the Braves system, he was dealt for J.D. Drew in 2003. The Cardinals, quite intelligently, broke Wainwright into the major leagues by using him out of the bullpen in 2006. He pitched well that season, and ended up closing in the playoffs after Jason Isringhausen went down with an injury. He went on to close out all three postseason series, including throwing one of the most famous pitches in New York baseball history, when he froze Carlos Beltran with a backdoor curveball to end game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. In 2007, the Cardinals placed Wainwright in their rotation, where he quickly established himself as one of the more reliable pitchers in the game. 9/28/09 CSJ

[fastball(89-95), curve(72-78), slider(84-89), changeup(80-82)]

Jaime Garcia / LHP / starter

Garcia has produced at every professional level and it looks like he'll continue that trend as a Major Leaguer. The Mexican born left-hander has already survived TJ surgery and is starting to fully establish himself in the National League.

None of his stuff is overwhelming, but he mixes it up well and gets decent movement on his 90 mph fastball. The pitch will run to his arm side when he throws it to the left side of home plate. However, when he throws to the right side of the plate, he gets around the baseball and cuts it towards his glove side, unintentionally I believe. Garcia will throw plenty of glove side sliders, drop in 12 to 6 curveballs, and sink changeups away from RHs. Jaime does not like to give in to hitters, and will allow extra walks because of this. 10/7/11

[fastball(88-92), slider(84-88), curve(70-76), changeup(81-85)]

Jason Motte / RHP / closer

Motte is an extremely hard thrower. He's deals a 95 mph fastball consistently and has racked up Ks at every professional level. Motte follows his fastball with what he calls a cutter and a "slider-curve, whatever that thing is". I've also seen him pre-grip a splitter but I haven't seen him throw it much yet. Basically, his stuff is lethal and he has proven to be a valuable asset to Tony LaRussa's bullpen.

Jason began his career as a catcher after playing college ball for Iona College. Unfortunately for him, he racked up Ks as a batter too. 6/11/11

[4-seam fastball(95-99), 2-seam fastball (91-96), cutter(89-92), slider(86-87), splitter]

Mitchell Boggs / RHP / setup reliever

Mitch throws a fastball, slider, and changeup. His fastball can sink or cut, depending on which side of the plate he's going with it. To his arm side, his ball sinks and tails. To his glove side, his fastball cuts. Boggs throws a slider for his breaking ball. It's a standard low-80s breaking pitch. Lastly, Boggs has trouble commanding his changeup, it often sails up and away towards his arm side. 7/29/11

[fastball(93-97), slider(82-86), changeup(80-84)]

Jake Westbrook / RHP / starter

Westbrook relies on his movement to get outs. He throws a sinking fastball away to LHs and down and in to RHs. He then mixes between a hard cutter, a changeup, and a slider. His changeup looks similar to his fastball, but with slightly more sink. The cutter will break LHs bats and the slider will sweep away from RHs. Westbrook has had some success in his career, but don't get too excited. Jake has battled tons of injuries over the last few years and he's one of those guys that "pitches to contact". 1/1/11 CSJ

[2-seam fastball, cutter, changeup, slider, curve]

Kyle Lohse / RHP / starter

Lohse's best work is done with his fastball/changeup combination. Lohse is a strike thrower that can hit the corners with his 91 mph fastball. When he follows it with the changeup, Lohse can be successful. His slider is garbage and it finally looks like he has figured that out in 2011. He is featuring the plus change more often and I believe that played a big part in being able to post his first season with a respectable WHIP(1.168). Lohse likes to backdoor his curveball to LHs and throw his slider away to RHs. Kyle, part of the Nomlaki Nation, is one of the few Native American players in the major leagues. 9/30/11

[2-seam fastball(88-92), changeup(79-82), curve(73-75), slider(82-85)]

Marc Rzepczynski / LHP / reliever

Rzepczynski throws your standard fastball/slider/changeup repertoire. He slings the fastball in the low-90s, unafraid to pitch inside. Marc will back-ankle his slider to RHs, and sweep it away from LHs. Rzepczynski's changeup is his distant third pitch, and has too much velocity to be very effective. I have not seen a curveball from the silent-Z man in 2011. 10/2/11

[fastball(90-93), slider(81-86), changeup(82-86)]

Fernando Salas / RHP / reliever

Salas has a simple three-pitch repertoire. He's stingy with his fastball, a straight 90 mph pitch with little movement. Fernando will mix in plenty of changeups to RHs and LHs. He gets good sink on the pitch and relies on it heavily. Salas throws a slurvy breaking ball that I'll call a curve. It has good depth but tends to back up on him often.

Salas was pitching in the Mexican League in Saltillo when the Cardinals signed him and sent him to Florida to pitch A ball in 2007. The next season, Salas was dominating the AA Texas League as a closer. The right-hander has continued his success in St. Louis, where he pitched to a 0.947 WHIP and converted 24 saves in 2011. 10/14/11

[fastball(88-92), changeup(81-85), curve(77-83)]

Lance Lynn / RHP / starter

Lynn is a huge man with a heavy fastball. He throws over-the-top and produces a good curve for his second pitch. Out of the bullpen, those are the only two pitches he'll use. However, as a starter, Lance will mix in a changeup and slider. The former Mississippi Rebel has a future in the big leagues, but the Cardinals haven't quite figured out what his role will be yet. 10/14/11

[fastball(91-96), curve(77-80), changeup, slider]

Kyle McClellan / RHP / starter - reliever

Kyle McClellan was an average minor league starter until T.J. surgery knocked him out of action. He came back as a relief pitcher and quickly rose through the Cardinals system. In 2011, Kyle was thrust back into a starting role after Adam Wainwright went down with T.J. of his own.

As a starter, his fastball is a heavy upper-80s pitch but it's still his breaking balls that make him successful. He uses lots of biting 12 to 6 curveballs and an efficient slider. Lastly, he deals a straight changeup to LHs. As a reliever, you're looking at the same selection of pitches with at least 5 mph added to each of them. 6/11/11

[fastball(85-90), slider(80-85), curve(68-72), changeup(79-83)]

J.C. Romero / LHP / reliever

Romero is your standard left-handed reliever. He has an average fastball, and relies on his junk to get outs. He has a big slider and a soft changeup. The slider, primarily thrown to LHs, will sweep accross the hitting zone. J.C. will save his changeup for RHs, and attempt to fade this pitch off the plate. He seems to lose more velocity each season, but has put together a few decent seasons in Philadelphia. 5/6/09 CSJ

[fastball(89-93), slider(80-83), changeup(77-82)]

Scott Linebrink / RHP / reliever

Linebrink is basically a fastball/splitter pitcher. The splitter seems to pop up out of his hand, floating and breaking glove side. This can make it appear to be a curveball at times, and/or dance strangely towards the plate. His fastball is extremely straight at 92 mph, but hitters have a tough time getting around on it. His other two pitches are a slider and changeup. His slider is in the upper-70s to low-80s and isn't nearly as sharp as it used to be. Linebrink's changeup sinks some but is fairly straight. 8/14/11

[fastball(91-95), splitter(80-84), changeup(81-84), slider]

Brian Broderick / RHP / reliever

[fastball(88-91), changeup(83-85), curve(76-77)]