60ft6in – Pitcher Scouting Reports

Clayton Kershaw / LHP / starter

The phenom, Clayton Kershaw, deals a low to mid-90s fastball that is dominant coming from the left side. He also throws a big, hard, hammer of a curveball and has shown a straight changeup. In 2010, Kershaw found a slider and it quickly became his favorite secondary pitch. The slider is lethal against RHs, as Clayton will bury this pitch under their bats on the inner half. Kershaw’s basic strategy consists of pounding RHs inside with his fastball and slider. He’ll use the changeup and curveball just a handful of times per game nowadays.

The Claw was drafted out of high school in 2006. He was the 7th pick of the now famous 2006 draft that included other star pitchers Tim Lincecum, Max Scherzer, Ian Kennedy, Daniel Bard, and Joba Chamberlain. Kershaw won the NL pitching Triple Crown in 2011, further increasing his comparisons to former Dodger left-hander, Sandy Koufax. 10/18/11

[fastball(91-96), slider(82-88), curve(73-75), changeup(83)]

Chad Billingsley / RHP / starter

Billingsley is a fastball/breaking ball pitcher that has quickly established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game. He has a compact delivery and a good arm, pumping in naturally cutting fastballs in the low to mid-90s. He mixes in many tight sliders that he varies considerably. He can throw his slider with a standard break, and then tighten it up to bust LHs inside. Billingsley likes to start batters off by dropping in his curveball for strike one. Chad's fourth pitch is his rarely used changeup. 6/11/09 CSJ

[fastball(89-95), slider(85-91), curve(74-81), changeup(83-87)]

Chris Capuano / LHP / starter

Capuano is an example of the overused term; crafty left-hander. Chris has never had plus velocity, but succeeds with an excellent changeup and control of his breaking ball. Capuano has added a cutter in 2011. He shows some restraint with the pitch, and hasn't overused it yet.

Capuano pitched for Duke University, has undergone two T.J. surgeries, and is married to an Olympian. 7/30/11

[fastball(86-91), changeup(77-82), slider(75-83), cutter(85-86)]

Hong-Chih Kuo / LHP / setup reliever

Kuo is known for his dominant velocity. He has the ability to strikeout batters in bunches as a starter or reliever. His fastball is a mid-90s pitch, and he breaks off two spinners. His curve is a big pitch that he slows his arm down to throw, while his slider is sharp in the mid-80s. Kuo has shown changeups in the past. Over the last couple of years, Kuo has really found his niche as a late inning reliever, and pitched to a 0.78 WHIP in 2010. 5/27/11

[fastball(92-98), curve(76-81), slider(85-89), changeup(85-87)]

Ted Lilly / LHP / starter

Lilly is his own man out there on the mound. He pitches inside and just doesn't care about "the book". He throws the vast majority of his fastballs inside to hitters, then does the same thing with his changeup. Lilly will often throw his slider away to RHs in backdoor fashion, making the pitch appear to float up to the plate on the standard television camera angle. Lastly, 'Ol Ted will bring a big curveball in the low-70s. 5/27/11

[fastball(85-90), changeup(76-81), slider(79-84), curve(66-72)]

Kenley Jansen / RHP / reliever

Jansen works with a naturally cutting fastball and downward breaking slider. The converted catcher from Curacao shows a rare changeup. Jansen's fastball can be dominating, but he has been plagued with inconsistency over his short career. 9/7/11

[fastball(91-94), slider(83)]

Aaron Harang / RHP / starter

Harang throws lots of hard stuff. He'll primarily pitch with his heavy, 90 mph fastball and his downward breaking slider. He'll use the slider away to RHs and back-ankle it to LHs. Harang's third pitch is his changeup, a pitch he's not afraid to throw to both LHs and tough RHs. It's an average pitch, but he seems to be able to keep it down in the zone. Lastly, Harang deals a slow 12 to 6 curveball.

In 2006, Aaron led the NL in Wins and Strikeouts while pitching for Cincinnati. However, Harang failed to get even one vote for the Cy Young Award, becoming the first NL pitcher to not win the award after leading those two statistical categories.

Harang grew up in San Diego and pitched for San Diego State. Harang joins John Lackey on baseball's all-ugly starting rotation. 8/6/11

[fastball(87-92), slider(80-85), curve(72-78), changeup(81-84)]

Jon Garland / RHP / starter

The former White Sox stalwart is now with his fifth team since 2007. Jon uses a low-90s moving fastball and a fairly soft changeup. Garland throws two breaking pitches, but prefers his curveball over the slider. The curve gets big, slow break. Jon uses his slider almost exclusively away to RHs. Since leaving Chicago, Garland has tinkered with a split-finger pitch and appears to have made it a permanent part of his repertoire in 2011. Not surprisingly, Garland pitched his best baseball in 2005, when the White Sox won the World Series. 6/9/11

[fastball(87-93), curve(74-79), changeup(80-83), slider(82-83)]

Matt Guerrier / RHP / setup reliever

Guerrier relies heavily on his breaking stuff. He has a slider that gets a ton of movement in the mid-80s and a big curve in the upper-70s. His fastball is anywhere from 89-95 mph with decent sinking action. A rare changeup rounds out the repertoire of this born and bred Ohioan. 6/9/11

[fastball(89-95), slider(84-87), curve(77-81), changeup(82-85)]

Ramon Troncoso / RHP / reliever

Troncoso has hit the major leagues dealing. He throws a short armed fastball that can get some good run towards his arm side. Then he'll mix in a solid curveball that gets good drop. I'm sure Ramon deals an offspeed pitch of some sort, but I haven't seen it yet. 6/11/09 CSJ

[fastball(90-95), curve(78-81)]

Oscar Villarreal / RHP / reliever

Villarreal has average stuff and will try anything to get an out. He sinks his 90 mph fastball and throws a tight slider. He mixes in a lot of moving changeups and shows a 12 to 6 curveball. His goal seems to be to avoid contact, and in doing so he'd rather walk a batter than give in. Oscar will even drop down his release point at times. 7/25/08 CSJ

[fastball(88-92), slider(84-86), changeup(84-86), curve(79-80)]

Mike MacDougal / RHP / reliever

MacDougal has a strong arm, jerky delivery, and little control of his arsenal. He almost exclusively relies on his fastball, but does throw two different breaking pitches, mixing between a very tight slider that touches 90 mph and a curve that sits around 80 mph. His fastball can get amazing sink at times, or seem to rise on a hitter when he gets it up in the zone. MacDougal will also mix in a few rare changeups. 5/27/11

[fastball(92-98), slider(87-91), curve(79-81), changeup]

Ian Snell / RHP / starter - reliever

Ian Snell has shown the ability to rack up Ks. However, he seems to be overthrowing all his pitches, which leads to high walk totals and no control within the strike zone. Add to that a loss in velocity, and Snell's MLB career is just about over.

Snell owns a decent moving fastball that touches 95 mph at times. Ian uses a curveball and slider as his secondary pitches. However, because he overthrows both of them, they have a tendency to blend together into one below average pitch. Ideally, Snell's curveball thrown around 80 mph with good downward movement, while his slider is a very tight breaker in the mid to upper-80s. He has a tendency to use the curve against LHs and the slider against RHs. Ian does have a changeup as his fourth pitch, but he is basically a fastball/breaking ball pitcher. Snell is from Delaware. 1/15/11

[fastball(88-95), curve(79-82), slider(85-88), change(82-85)]

Jose Ascanio / RHP / reliever

Jose Ascanio, not to be confused with the old knuckleballing Yankees BP pitcher, is a hard throwing Venezuelan. He has a low-90s fastball and a sinking changeup. Ascanio mixes in a few curves. 7/23/11

[fastball(90-94), curve(76-78), changeup]

Alberto Castillo / LHP / reliever

Castillo is one of those left-handers that will try anything to get an out, because he has to. His stuff is underwhelming, starting with a fastball that touches 90 mph at times. His slider is a big sweeper that will break away from LHs, or dive at the ankles of RHs. Castillo will try a changeup to RHs and has also shown me a slow curve. Castillo's final trick is to drop down and throw his fastball or slider from a sidearm angle. He seems to do this against LHs only. 7/23/11

[fastball(85-91), slider(75-81), changeup(80-83), curve(73)]

Wil Ledezma / LHP / reliever

Known as a fastball/changeup pitcher in the minors, Ledezma doesn't seem to have enough control of that pitch to be successful in the majors. He relies on his hard 94 mph fastball to get hitters out. He also throws a big slider. 7/28/07 CSJ

[fastball, slider, changeup]