60ft6in – Pitcher Scouting Reports

Josh Johnson / RHP / starter

Johnson returned to the mound in ’08 with a new, freshly repaired elbow. He also brought back his simple, yet effective repertoire of fastball, slider, and changeup. His fastball is still excellent, clocking in the mid-90s, getting some natural cut at times. Johnson deals a tight slider as his breaking pitch, throwing it away from RHs and ducking it under LHs bats. His third pitch is a sinking changeup that has the velocity of the average pitcher’s 2-seamer. 4/21/09 CSJ

[fastball(93-97), slider(83-88), changeup(88-90)]



Heath Bell / RHP / closer

Heath Bell is a big dude and brings big heat. He throws a hard, heavy fastball and a hard breaking ball. He doesn't usually fool anyone, batters know what's coming and he challenges them. His breaking ball gets lots of downward movement, so I'll call it a curveball. He has been known to try a few changeups and has even tried a split-finger pitch, but any off-speed pitch is rare. Bell has gone from Omar Minaya castoff to one of the top relief pitchers in the game. 9/16/11

[fastball(94-96), curve(81-84), changeup, splitter]

Ricky Nolasco / RHP / starter

Nolasco is one of the best control pitchers in the game, averaging around two BB/9 since becoming a full-time starter. Ricky throws a 2-seam fastball in the low-90s that can fool hitters. He has a big breaking, swing-and-miss curveball he throws in the low-70s. Nolasco's offspeed pitch is a splitter that gets decent drop. Lastly, Nolasco will spin a standard slider as his fourth pitch. He has experienced some really bad streaks in his short career, but more often than not he has proven to be a winning pitcher. 8/13/11

[2-seam fastball(86-94), curve(71-76), splitter(81-84), slider(79-83)]

Mark Buehrle / LHP / starter

Buehrle has never been a hard thrower. He deals a mid to upper-80s fastball and a low-80s cutter. He can turn his cutter in on the hands of RHs, or even backdoor them with it. Against LHs, Buehrle will use the cutter almost exclusively on the outer half of the plate. He'll even vary the movement of the cutter to LHs, giving it more sliding action at times. Buehrle's third pitch is a sinking changeup that he can spot extremely well. He'll use the changeup to both LHs and RHs, consistently locating the pitch in the bottom half of the strike zone. Mark's last pitch is a standard curveball that he can drop in for strike one. When going well, the curve can even act as a strikeout pitch.

Buehrle is the fastest working pitcher in baseball, producing some of the shortest games in the majors each season. His accelerated pace frustrates hitters that have a prolonged routine in the batter's box. This, and the fact that Buehrle knows what he is, and isn't capable of, usually gives him the edge over the batters. 9/22/11

[fastball(81-87), cutter(76-83), changeup(76-82), curve(72-73)]

Juan Carlos Oviedo / RHP / closer

Oviedo is a lanky kid with amazing arm speed. He brings 95 mph gas that runs towards his arm side. Juan Carlos mixes in sliders and changeups, both equally effective, or ineffective, depending on the outing. He's not afraid to throw his changeup to RHs and he continues to improve. 8/5/11

[fastball(91-97), slider(84-88), change(83-88)]

Anibal Sanchez / RHP / starter

Sanchez throws a variety of moving pitches. He owns a fastball that he can tail arm side or straighten out upstairs. Anibal owns a good, hard slider, and uses a 12 to 6 curveball that he can throw for strikes. His changeup moves strangely, getting some natural cut, as opposed to the tailing circle-changeup most pitchers throw. Thanks to a shoulder injury, Sanchez has lost some of the velocity that let him throw a no-hitter as a rookie in 2006. However, he has still become a reliable right-hander in the Marlins rotation. 7/29/11

[fastball(87-95), slider(82-88), changeup(80-86), curve(74-77)]

Michael Dunn / LHP / setup reliever

Dunn is a hard throwing converted outfielder from Nevada. His left-handed fastball flies in the mid-90s and produces plenty of swings and misses. Dunn's slider appears to be an average pitch, but after seeing his 95 mph heater, anything slightly deceptive could get results. I'm sure Dunn has an off-speed pitch waiting somewhere, but I haven't seen it yet. 8/5/11

[fastball(92-97), slider(86-89)]

Javier Vazquez / RHP / starter

Vazquez varies his breaking balls well, throwing his curveball anywhere between an eephus-like 60 mph to 79 mph. His slider gets fairly tight break at times, especially when he tries to bury it inside on LHs. Vazquez' changeup was his best pitch when he was with Montreal, but it has been very inconsistent since then. To compensate, Vazquez has attempted splitters at different times in his career. Lastly, Javier's fastball still has good movement but he lost about 3 mph off the pitch in 2010. 8/14/11

[fastball(85-93), slider(81-87), changeup(78-83), curve(60-79), splitter]

Edward Mujica / RHP / reliever

Mujica is a hard throwing Venezuelan. He has a low-90s heater that flies fairly straight and a biting slider. He can rack up some Ks and has put it all together since his amazing 2010 season as a long reliever for the Padres. In previous years, he showed the same good stuff, but was banged around a bit. 8/14/11

[fastball(89-94), slider(82-85), splitter(86-88)]

Carlos Zambrano / RHP / starter

Zambrano is a circus. He throws tons of fastballs with varying degrees of movement. His 2-seamers will run towards his arm-side and his 4-seamers will stay somewhat straight. He'll also mix in cut fastballs that he'll throw to any batter, to either side of the plate. Carlos has a standard slider that appears to just spin up to the plate when he's throwing poorly. Zambrano starts each delivery by pre-gripping a splitter while looking for the signs. Like most splitters, his will dive when he keeps it down, or float like a changeup when he leaves it up. Lastly, he'll throw a very slow lob for a curveball on occasion. 6/7/11

[fastball(87-94), cutter(87-92), splitter(81-85), slider(76-83), curve(66-73)]

Ryan Webb / RHP / reliever

Webb is a young relief pitcher from Clearwater, Florida. He shows some strikeout potential with his 94 mph moving fastball and mid-80s slider. Since reaching the show, Webb has out pitched his minor league numbers. 8/14/11

[fastball(91-95), slider(81-85), changeup(82-85)]

Steven Cishek / RHP / reliever

Cishek is a sidearming right-hander from Cape Cod. He whips up a low-90s fastball and uses a slider and changeup as secondary pitches. 8/27/11

[sidearm fastball(91-95), slider(85), changeup(86)]

Sean West / LHP / starter

Sean West is tall left-hander from Schreveport, Louisiana. A first round pick at 6' 8" tall, he looks like a giant on the mound and produces a downward throwing angle. West owns a low-90s fastball and appears to throw it with decent control. He'll work in a slider and circle changeup as secondary pitches. 6/4/09 CSJ

[fastball(90-94), slider(79-84), changeup(82-85)]

Gary Glover / RHP / reliever

Glover throws a very straight fastball in the low-90s. His slider tends to round off at times, and not get the sharp break he's looking for. Other times his slider is extremely tight like a cutter. He has terrible command of his changeup and still throws a 12 to 6 type curveball that looks like his best pitch. 5/28/08 CSJ

[fastball(91-96), curve(76-79), slider(86-91), changeup]