bighurt4life Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 He doesn't really say all that much about anyone that we didn't already know. In fact, I'm not sure why he even wrote the article as there is nothing and I mean NOTHING new here. Maybe he had a deadline and nothing else to turn in??? Dayan Viciedo, the latest player to come through the Havana-South Side pipeline, does look like he's going to hit. His weight, position and even his age have all been questioned, but if the bat is there, those criticisms do become somewhat less important. On the plus side, he has a great swing that should lead to hard contact and allow him to tap into his raw strength to generate power. In batting practice, he was shorter to the ball than he was in the game and, while he didn't show the advertised power, he sprayed the middle of the field with long line drives. On the minus side, he strides early and long and takes an enormous cut, so he ends up off-balance much of the time, and I can foresee him struggling to adjust to changing speeds. He's down about 20 pounds from when he signed but is still a thick 247 pounds, so questions about his body and position (he was the DH on Monday) remain unanswered. • Speaking of unanswered questions, Aaron Poreda threw four innings but didn't show the solid second pitch that everyone in the scouts section wants to see. Poreda's fastball was, as usual, plus -- 90-94 mph with life and sink -- and he threw it for strikes, but his slider and change were both below average. He seemed to be working on the slider, throwing more of them than I'd ever seen him throw in a single outing. Based on the varying shapes of the pitch, I would guess that he is still looking for a comfortable grip and release point. The best sliders he threw had more depth than tilt, and he was guiding the pitch rather than just throwing it. His arm slot is still below three-quarters, although it looked higher than it was last fall, which, if true, gives him a better chance to turn his hand over on his changeup or get on top of a breaking ball. He has a clean delivery that he repeats well; he starts with an exaggerated leg kick (I know some people feel that adds deception; I'm not really sure about that) and takes a long stride toward the plate, and the only real negative is that he doesn't land firmly and his foot often slips out of place. It's possible he just doesn't have the arm speed to throw a good breaking ball, but it's too soon to rule it out, especially while they're still working on his arm slot. • Fausto Carmona was the 2007 version for five batters, gave up a ground-ball single, and became the 2008 version after that. Carmona was 90-94 with great sink, but after the first runner reached and he had to work from the stretch, he started elevating his fastball more and locating it less. His curve was erratic and he didn't command it, although if he's not pounding the lower half of the zone with his sinker, the breaking ball is probably not relevant. • John Danks was, if anything, worse, with poor command of his 88-92 mph fastball; his cutter was still his go-to pitch, but he struggled to set it up. • Anthony Reyes was 88-91 with a slow curve in the mid-to-upper 70s. I can't imagine the stuff he showed Monday will be good enough to keep him in an AL contender's rotation this year. • Michael Brantley had another couple of line-drive singles to left field. I'd like to see what happens if he gets a ball on the inner half (Can he turn on it? Drive it?), but if you can handle the ball on the outer half like that, you should at least hit for average. • I really don't need to see John Van Benschoten pitch again, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFirebird Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 (edited) QUOTE (bighurt4life @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 10:23 PM) I really don't need to see John Van Benschoten pitch again, thanks. That is pretty funny. Doesn't he know the great Coooooop fixes all? Edited March 11, 2009 by BFirebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Did Keith Law even seen the Poreda game? Poreda threw the slider ALOT. After his first inning of work he consistently got it over, and it looked good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggsmaggs Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Mar 10, 2009 -> 11:58 PM) Did Keith Law even seen the Poreda game? Poreda threw the slider ALOT. After his first inning of work he consistently got it over, and it looked good. What looks good to you and me might not to a scout. Although I don't like Law all that much, you gotta think he knows more than us. I thought Poreda threw his slider well, too. But he is a guy with ML experience as a scout and managerial type, so I would trust his gut more than ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 was that the former Stl Cardinal reyes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Yep, one and the same. I actually thought Reyes looked pretty good out there, but, hey, I'm not Keith Law, so maybe I'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 11, 2009 -> 06:13 AM) Yep, one and the same. I actually thought Reyes looked pretty good out there, but, hey, I'm not Keith Law, so maybe I'm wrong. Man, the Cardinals have so many odd, unrepeated success stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshot7 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 Sounds like he only went to the Sox/Indians game and hasn't seen Poreda pitch otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daa84 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 i think people just see the name keith law and like to go after him, but IMO that is pretty astute analysis. I saw what he saw out of Poreda, inconsistent slider that wasn't quite there yet, but could be if he can gain consistency out of it. and he was very complimentary toward Viciedo given the fact that Law has been blasting him recently for his weight. I think articles like that are cool because it allows you to read the thoughts of a guy who has scouting experience. BTW he has seen Poreda on several occasions, most recently in the AFL oh and just from reading his blog and chats...he loves danks long term having said hes a legit 1 or 2 guy on most staffs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Zelig Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 11, 2009 -> 12:42 AM) Man, the Cardinals have so many odd, unrepeated success stories. I think the Cardinals would call Reyes a disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 What the heck. It's ST and Law, me, you or whoever, we are all experts and can give our 2 cents worth. But, maybe we should wait for the season to start. Hopefully Guillen and staff have done their analyzing by opening day and the players have practiced on whatever they needed to practice on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 To be honest, Law is probably one of the worse scouts I've ever read. His analysis tend to be way off, however, scouts in general tend to be much more downers than uppers when talking about people. Law was focusing heavily on the negatives but what interested me was just how much he slammed Danks. Or was I mis-reading something late last night? Oh and the reason Law is one of the worse scouts I've ever read, simple, because not many scouts are writing blogs or analysis. You got to take his stuff for what its worth. He isn't the guy spewing out if everything goes right bulls***, he's basically stating where guys are right now. However, he has a beef with Kenny and is always harsher on White Sox guys and its pretty obvious. I'm not about to go off about how great our system is, because it isn't great, despite what you are hearing from Chicago. However, Its pretty obvious that you have quite a few legit major league young talent knocking on the door, the one problem, I'm not so certain any of them are destine to be stars (of the new group). The thing is they might have found there stars already in Ramirez, Quentin, Danks, Floyd. That said, Viciedo clearly has the shot to be an offensive juggernaut and Beckham could just be a tremendous all around player in the Jeter mold (I know people won't like that comparison, but I went there, Beckham is a ball player). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Mar 11, 2009 -> 12:45 PM) I think the Cardinals would call Reyes a disappointment. That's not what I meant. They have these pitchers and hitters that, seemingly, come out of no where, then fizzle just as quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Mar 11, 2009 -> 07:45 AM) I think the Cardinals would call Reyes a disappointment. And the Indians would be very happy with the trade that they made for him at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 11, 2009 -> 12:05 PM) That's not what I meant. They have these pitchers and hitters that, seemingly, come out of no where, then fizzle just as quickly. That's what Dave Duncan does to those pitchers. He's able to take no-name guys, and turn em into successful mid rotation starters, while a big name like Mulder floundered over there (albeit he was injured). The only SP who's had real success there recently over the past few seasons has been Chris Carpenter, but he missed most of last season as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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