Here are my thoughts on Lowder: Lowder pitched very well in his debut, but showed really spotty command which wasn’t what I expected at all. Lowder only had a 2.0 BB/9 during the minors this year, yet he walked 4 guys in 4 innings today. I’m willing to right that off as first-start nerves, but it’s something to watch for in the future. Anyways, Lowder’s best pitch is the changeup pretty easily, he gets really good downward action and he had a 40% whiff rate on it this game. His slider is also above average, a clear gyro slider with almost no horizontal movement but plenty vertical. His fastballs are both probably below average, and I was expecting a little more velocity too from them. He averaged 93.9 and 92.3 mph on the four seam and sinker respectively. He did command his sinker really well, but not the four seam whatsoever (34.8% zone%). If Lowder shows the same level of command he did in the minors, he should be a really good starter for a long time. I don’t see much reason to think he can’t either, so I’m really excited to see this guy pitch on an exciting young Reds team.
I think he’s guna be a good one. If he can hone in command. Don’t know why they played edwards to pull, that could have been an inning ending double play. That start looks alot different
Just wondering whatever happened to Cody Morris and Clayton Beeter. Lindy's 2024 MLB Preview had Beeter as one of the five NYY starters to open the season with.
Here are my thoughts on Matthews: Matthews had a good debut and I think it was about what you’d expect from him. Matthews skyrocketed up prospect lists this year after dominating High-A and Double-A. He’s struggled a bit in Triple-A, although it’s only been 4 starts. The biggest thing with Matthews is his command, he has the best command of any pitching prospect, and had a 0.6 BB/9 in the minor leagues this year. His stuff isn’t spectacular, although he does have some decent pitches. The cutter may be tied with his slider as the best pitch, the cutter gets great horizontal and vertical movement. The slider is a similar pitch, but it’s a clear gyro slider and has even more vertical break than the cutter. His curveball and changeups need some work, he’s not confident in them and didn’t command them well either!! The four-seam is only average too, but his arsenal ticks up with how pinpoint accurate he is with his best 3 pitches. Zebby is definitely ready for the MLB and he’s not far away from George Kirby. The curveball and changeups are the only thing holding him back from being a top end starting pitcher.
his 4SFB seems a bit flat, at least in this outing (all I seen so far), but I agree with everything you said. That cutter is a power pitch, hope he does well
Here are my thoughts on Warren: Warren had an okay debut, but it was tainted by the 3-run homer on a hanging sweeper to Austin Hays. That sweeper is his best pitch for sure, it has really sharp break. Also there’s over 3 feet of vertical break and more than a foot of horizontal break. He should really use his sinker more, it’s nearly the complete opposite of the sweeper movement wise. It’s a really good pitch and will get plenty of whiffs from guys looking for the sweeper. His fastball is below average, so he could probably scrap that or at least use it less in favor of more sinkers. It’s a similar story with the changeup, though he needs something to use against lefties. He’s really a two-pitch pitcher with the sweeper and sinker, he can definitely start but there’s probably a really good reliever in there too. He also has somewhat spotty command so I think eventually he moves to a relief role. He’s definitely ready for the MLB but probably won’t be a great starter yet.
It seems obvious that the O's system isn't great for pitchers. Next to none of the top prospects have been or are pitchers (and there have been a lot of top prospects the last few years) and it also seems like its always the hitting side of signing guys that overperforms a la' O'hearn. A solid veteran like Burnes might be fine but I would not want to be a young pitcher in this system.
Here are my thoughts on McDermott: McDermott didn’t have a great debut, but it was about what you could expect from a guy with a 4 ERA in Triple-A. I’m not the biggest fan of McDermott, he doesn’t have the best stuff and his command has always been spotty. I think he’s more of a reliever, and probably not a high leverage one either. His fastball is maybe average at 94 mph and little movement, it’s not great at creating whiffs either (19% whiff rate this start). His slider and curveballs are good pitches, and I thought his changeup was really solid too. The changeup has a lot of tail on it, and tunnels pretty well with the fastball. Unfortunately, you definitely don’t want to be using an average fastball down in the zone to MLB hitters, but the changeup is good enough by itself. It seems like the Orioles aren’t going to give him much of a chance this year, he already got sent to Triple-A and the Eflin trade gives him even less of a chance. McDermott has back-end of rotation ceiling if he improves the command, but he’s already 26 with no signs of that coming.
Here are my thoughts on Ryan: Ryan was definitely lucky to give up only 1 (unearned) run this outing, and overall his outing made me a little more cautious about his future. He gave up lots of good contact and his command was pretty awful. He has 6 different pitches, all are at least average stuff-wise. Nothing really stands out as a true plus pitch though, which kind of surprised me given the great grades from scouts. In my opinion his best pitch was the cutter, which didn’t actually “cut” much but had really late vertical movement that dodged a bunch of bats. The slider and curveballs seemed just average to me, and he couldn’t get any whiffs at all on either which is somewhat concerning. As I said earlier, he couldn’t find the zone much at all and consistently missed a few inches out of the zone and was leaving fastballs in the middle of the plate. His fastball has good velocity, but also only managed 1 whiff because of his below average ride on it. Bad command and average stuff is definitely not a recipe for success in the MLB, I think he needs to use the cutter more as it seems to be his best pitch. Still, if he commands his stuff even a little better, his 6 pitch arsenal will keep hitters guessing no matter what. This is definitely a more concerning debut than I thought from such a highly touted prospect. He’ll probably be able to stick in the rotation for now, but I don’t think the Dodgers will be eager to keep him around once the rest of their rotation comes back healthy.
I don’t get why pitchers need more than 3 pitches. Buehler was perfect throwing just four seam, slider, and the occasional curve and has gotten worse when he tried adding sinkers, cutters, changeups IMO.
Here are my thoughts on Wrobleski: Wrobleski didn’t have a great debut and overall didn’t really impress me either stuff wise. He mainly used 3 pitches, the four-seam, slider, and cutter. That’s not the greatest pitch arsenal because everything is pretty hard, and the slider/cutter have similar movement profiles. He also has a changeup that he used, but only rarely and it doesn’t show that much movement. He has a decent mid-90s fastball that’s probably only average, especially because of his way below average extension. I think if Wrobleski had a lower arm slot and more extension, he could really add a level of deception that he doesn’t really have right now. Those would make him a nightmare against lefties, especially with his sweeping slider. The slider is good, sometimes it looks more like a curveball, and he had one really nice painted one at 1:49. His cutter is very similar but is slightly harder and has less horizontal movement, a solid tool to use against right handed hitters mainly. His command was pretty good, but the stuff demands it as he can’t miss in the zone with his below average stuff. I’m not sure if Wrobleski is ready for the majors yet, and he really has to start using the changeup if he wants to succeed. I really think an arm slot change could help him, but the changeup is very important too.
Going to reserve judgement until next year. Kyle Harrison was shaky at times last year, but you could tell he had really good stuff. Birdsong is up in the MLB way too early. Giants just ran out of choices in starting pitching.
