60ft6in – Pitcher Scouting Reports

Edinson Volquez / RHP / starter

Edinson Volquez burst onto the scene in 2008, suffered through TJ surgery in ’09, and made his comeback midway through 2010. He piles up Ks by using his excellent fastball/changeup combination. His strategy is simple: throw the fastball inside to get ahead, then toss moving changeups away to finish hitters off. Edinson will deviate from this strategy, but not very often, attacking most hitters with this basic plan. Both Volquez’ fastball and changeup will naturally cut some when thrown to his glove side. He also throws two similar looking breaking balls. His curveball is in the upper-70s and he’ll usually try to backdoor LHs with it. His slider is a low-80s pitch that he’ll throw away from RHs. Edinson’s only question mark is his shaky control. 10/4/10 CSJ

[fastball(91-96), changeup(79-83), curve(76-78), slider(81-82)]

Huston Street / RHP / closer

Street has a very low 3/4 delivery. His fastball velocity has dropped slightly since his first call-up, now sitting around 90 mph. His slider is short and tight, slightly different than the sweeping sliders we usually see from other sidewinders. He also throws changeups that sink hard. Huston has been closing baseball games since his freshman year at Texas. 5/14/11

[fastball(88-93), slider(82-85), changeup(80-84)]

Clayton Richard / LHP / starter

Despite being a 6' 5" former University of Michigan quarterback, Richard appears to have the stuff of a typical lefthander. He throws a tailing fastball around 90 mph and mixes in multiple changeups. He appears to use some type of modified split-finger grip on the changeup. However, I'm still unsure about whether it is a true splitter or some kind of vulcan grip. He'll also show a good amount of sliders that have tightened up over his first few big league seasons. Richard's fourth pitch is a curveball that is not a factor at this point. When looking for a strikeout, Richard will elevate a 4-seamer and crank it up into the mid-90s. 1/20/11

[2-seam fastball(87-92), changeup(79-85), slider(82-86), 4-seam fastball(92-95), curve(75-79)]

Luke Gregerson / RHP / setup reliever

Gregerson is the ultimate sinker/slider pitcher. His fastball moves all over the place, sometimes uncontrollably. He showed plenty of promise in the Cardinals organization, moving up the minor league ladder quickly. Luke has since become a key part of the Padres dominating bullpen. 6/9/11

[fastball(87-92), slider(82-86), changeup(80-81)]

Tim Stauffer / RHP / starter

Stauffer has had a career resurgence since returning from labrum surgery in 2009. Originally a 1st round pick out of Richmond, Stauffer never lived up to the hype. Post-surgery however, Tim has made himself into a positive contributor as a starter and reliever.

Stauffer throws a standard repertoire of 2-seamer, curve, slider, and change. He has good command and control of all four offerings and is thought of as a "complete pitcher". 6/9/11

[2-seam fastball(87-93), curve(73-79), slider(83-88), changeup(78-82)]

Josh Spence / LHP / reliever

Spence is a soft-tossing left-hander that has surprised hitters at every level of baseball. Spence's fastball barely touches 87 mph, but he sneaks it into the catcher's mitt with an awkward, snapping release. The Australian's best pitch is his slider, a breaking ball that will get plenty of swings and misses.

Spence combined with Mike Leake at Arizona State to give the Sun Devils two of the best pitchers in the NCAA in 2009. The two combined for a 26-2 record with 287 strikeouts in just 244.2 innings. 9/7/11

[fastball(84-87), changeup(76-80), slider(78-81)]

Joe Thatcher / LHP / reliever

Thatcher is a left-hander that throws from a low 3/4 arm angle. His fastball gets some wild movement, while his slider sweeps out of the hitting zone. Thatcher can be very effective against LHs. 8/6/11

[fastball(82-86), slider(75-78)]

Dustin Moseley / RHP / starter - reliever

Moseley attempts to be a sinkerball pitcher. However, with a 2-seamer that just doesn't seem to get enough movement, his results are lacking. His curveball looks like his best pitch, getting good, crisp, 12 to 6 drop. Moseley mixes in a poor changeup as his third pitch. 10/24/08

[2-seam fastball(88-91), curve(75-79), changeup(82-83)]

Erik Hamren / RHP / reliever

Hamren is a former Cubs draft pick and independent league survivor. The right-hander must have figured something out over the 2010-11 off season, because he is now dominating minor league hitters and has been given a shot with the Padres.

Hamren uses plenty of leg strength to throw a low-90s fastball out of a 3/4 arm angle. He backs it up with a slurvey slider that gets good sweeping action. Hamren pre-grips a splitter and I've seen him throw a handful of these. 8/13/11

[fastball(90-93), slider(78-80), splitter(80-82)]

Anthony Bass / RHP / reliever

Bass is a slender right-hander from the state of Michigan. He features a low-90s fastball and biting slider. Bass will also mix in plenty of changeups that get some strange movement. Bass has thrown well as a minor league starter, but it remains to be seen what his permanent role will be in the major leagues. 8/13/11

[fastball(90-95), slider(82-88), changeup(81-85)]

Aaron Poreda / LHP / reliever

Poreda was one of the White Sox' top prospects until he mysteriously lost his control in 2009. He is lefthanded and touches 95 mph with his live arm. He'll use a slider and changeup, but neither pitch looks promising right now. Now with the Padres, maybe he can capture some of their pitching magic for himself. 1/3/11

[fastball(91-95), slider(77-79), changeup(77)]

Micah Owings / RHP / starter - reliever

Micah's velocity won't overwhelm anyone, but he deals a heavy, naturally cutting fastball around 90 mph that batters just can't seem to hit squarely. Owings will follow that up with a tight slider in the low-80s and a sinking changeup.

Micah Owings is like that kid in Little League that would throw a one-hit shutout against you, and hit two homeruns in the same game. Except Owings is still doing it in the Majors. He hit five home runs in his first 79 major league at-bats. At Georgia Tech and Tulane he combined to hit 33 HRs in his NCAA career. 9/16/11

[cut fastball(85-89), slider(81-83), changeup(80-83)]

Brad Brach / RHP / reliever

[fastball91-94), slider(82-85)]