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Neal Cotts


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He has a really rough 2nd inning. He had a lead off walk, and then got hit hard, and had thrown 54 pitches through 2 innings. But then he went and pitched great until the 6th inning when Arod who had K's twice homered off of Neal. I think the last 3 innings of the outing will give him confidence for his next time out.

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Rex:

 

Can you detail which pitches he "normally" throws?

 

Thanks.

 

Forkit!

Obviously I am not Rex, but after watching him, his change is by far his best pitch along with his fastball. He throws an occasional curve that he seems to have problems throwing for strikes. His fastball and change have a good differential on them, so that it looks to me, as a hitter you have a hard time adjusting if you guess the wrong pitch.

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What I wanted to know...Is his curve normally better? Does he have a fourth pitch?

 

Forkit!

That one I can't answer, Rex is definately your man there. And I didn't see him throw a forth pitch at all. As a matter of a fact I would say last night he at least 90% of his pitches were fastball's and changes. If he threw a 4th pitch he would have thrown it once or twice tops.

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Neal looked AVERAGE. His location was getting better; however, he was still throwing pitches way outside of the strike zone--something he needs to work on, since he won't get away with that much up here in the majors. It's nice to see his walk total down and his strike total up since his last start. I think that this could be a confidence builder for him, and he'll do even better in his next start on Friday.

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Jason you hit it on the head saying that he varies speeds on all of his pitches. He can even cut the fastball a little into RH's, but I don't think it would technically be a 4th pitch, more just a variation of his fastball.

 

At times, I have seen his curveball be very good with a lot of bite. Other outings, it has had more of a roll to it, but he has been able to locate it well enough to get away with it.

 

I haven't seen either of the games he has pitched for the Sox, but my guess is he is getting more comfortable, which should enable him to be more effective. Which he will need to be facing Texas a second time in a row.

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As a matter of a fact I would say last night he at least 90% of his pitches were fastball's and changes.

Hawk was commenting all last night that Cotts was, for all intents and purposes, a 2 pitch pitcher..... especially in the 2nd inning. Hawk voiced that Texas hitters should go to the plate with the mind-set of whether they will want to hit a fastball or change-up.

 

Cotts doesn't impress me at all. He has good stuff but needs to fine tune big time in AA. I'd give him one more start to impress the hell out of me and, if that doesn't happen, back to AA with Cotts.

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Just what is it about him that has made him so dominating in AA? I mean sheesh, he struck out a guy and a half per inning down there! He doesn't throw 100 mph and he doesn't have a curve ball with a 2 foot break on it. He is, as Hawk says, "crafty" and "sneaky", but in my mind that describes guys more like Buehrle or Maddux, not a guy whom you consider a strikeout or overpowering pitcher. What is his secret weapon that has made him able to dominate and toy with the guys in AA (and those 6 Rangers last night)??

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Just what is it about him that has made him so dominating in AA?  I mean sheesh, he struck out a guy and a half per inning down there!  He doesn't throw 100 mph and he doesn't have a curve ball with a 2 foot break on it.  He is, as Hawk says, "crafty" and "sneaky", but in my mind that describes guys more like Buehrle or Maddux, not a guy whom you consider a strikeout or overpowering pitcher.  What is his secret weapon that has made him able to dominate and toy with the guys in AA (and those 6 Rangers last night)??

Cotts is a good location pitcher, which is able to help make up for the lack of velocity to his pitches. During his time here at ISU, as well as his time in the minors, Cotts used a wicked breaking ball to his advantage, and was able to fool many batters into swinging. Through time, I believe he's going to be a formidable major league starter, and in a couple years, perhaps a good #3 or #4 man in the rotation. If he can gain some velocity, however, he may be able to be a #2 starter someday.

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