My Research Kickoff
So my Tigers buddy texts me yesterday morning, all hyped about this new pitcher they just called up. Honestly, I hadn’t been paying much attention to the farm system lately. My first thought? “Alright, need the basics. Who even IS this guy?” Fired up the laptop, coffee in hand, ready to dig.
Step 1: The Quick Stats Snoop
First stop, always the official team page. Searched his name, and bam, there he was. Scrolled past the height/weight stuff (6’3″, throws righty – noted, but whatever). My eyes glued to the minor league stats from this year. E.R.A. looked kinda shaky at first glance. Like, higher than I’d like. But then I saw those strikeout numbers. Oh yeah, he misses bats. That perked me up. Made a mental note: Power arm? Maybe. Control issues? Possible.
Step 2: Hunting Pitch Data
Stats are cool, but how does he get guys out? Time to get nerdy. Jumped over to the prospect tracking site I sometimes lurk on. Needed his pitch mix. Scrolled past the boring reports, found the velocity charts.
- Fastball sits mid-90s. Okay, good, not blowing guys away but got some pop.
- The slider? That was the money pitch. Dude gets nasty break on it. Highlight clips showed guys swinging over air.
- Saw a changeup listed, but barely any data. Probably not super confident in it yet. Interesting.
So basically, fastball/slider guy, leaning hard on the slider when he needs outs.
Step 3: The “Uh Oh” Moment
Felt pretty good until this part. Started looking at splits – like, how he does against lefties vs. righties. Big surprise: left-handed batters crush him. Like, seriously rough numbers. His slider bites away from them, right? But that fastball must hang or something. That’s a huge red flag. Next team sees that, bet they load the lineup with lefties.
Step 4: Digging Into Background Noise
Wanted context, you know? Checked a couple local baseball blogs for scuttlebutt. Found some chatter about him in Triple-A. Seems the big knocks against him were always walks and that lefty problem. No real injury history stood out, which is good news for the Tigers. But one thing kept popping up: he can get flustered early. If the first couple guys reach base? His command sometimes just vanishes. That temper might be a thing.
Step 5: Putting It All Together (For Me)
Coffee was cold by now, but I had my picture. Here’s the five things burned in my brain for the next game:
- Live arm, great slider. Expect Ks, especially if he’s ahead in counts.
- Control waivers. Watch the walk count early. If it’s high, bad news.
- Lefties own him. See how many lefty bats the other team starts. Big indicator.
- First inning matters most. If he escapes clean, might settle in. If not… could get messy quick.
- Changeup MIA. Don’t expect much beyond fastball/slider. Third pitch is a ghost.
Honestly, feels like a risky move by the Tigers. High upside with the strikeouts, but those holes? Man, major league hitters will find ’em fast. Gonna be fascinating to see how he handles it. My notebook’s ready for the game, that’s for sure.
