From: tom dunne on
Keith Law is a pretty objective analyst, possibly even a bit on the
negative side, and definitely not a guy who buys into hype. Keeping
that in mind, here are his thoughts on Chapman after watching him
pitch:

--------
I got my first live look at Aroldis Chapman on Monday in a game in
Goodyear, Ariz., that was attended by a few hundred other people --
probably not what the city of Goodyear had in mind when they paid for
the stadium -- and I have a two-word scouting report: That'll work.

Chapman pitched mostly at 94-96 mph, but touched 98 with the fastball,
and was as low as 91. He located the pitch pretty well, especially
considering the velocity. His slider was absolutely toxic at 87-90 mph
with tilt and an incredibly sharp break -- it's the velocity of an
average fastball for a left-hander with the movement of a plus
breaking pitch. It's slider-like against lefties but also displayed
the depth of a curveball on one pitch when he raised his arm slot
against a right-handed hitter. He threw one changeup at 80 mph that
had some fading action, although I imagine that a hitter geared up for
96 is going to swing about an hour early at a Chapman change.

What really jumps out about Chapman isn't that he touches 98 with his
fastball -- while not common, it's certainly not unheard-of -- but
that he does it so easily.

There are big league starters who look like they're playing catch when
they pitch, like Livan Hernandez; there are almost no big league
pitchers who look like they're playing catch at 96 or 98 mph. But
Chapman does. His arm is loose and quick, and he makes a relatively
easy thrower like Steven Strasburg look high-effort by comparison.

In terms of mechanics, Chapman takes an enormous stride toward the
plate and pronates his arm reasonably early; the arm path isn't long
and there's no violence or other major red flags in the delivery. If
he stays healthy, he's a No. 1 starter, and should be able to come
north with the Reds in some role this year if they want him on the big
league roster.
-----------

Wow. Here's hoping that the folks upstairs keep Dusty on a short
leash when Chapman makes it to the show!
From: HTP on
On Mar 9, 8:27 am, tom dunne <dunn...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Keith Law is a pretty objective analyst, possibly even a bit on the
> negative side, and definitely not a guy who buys into hype.  Keeping
> that in mind, here are his thoughts on Chapman after watching him
> pitch:
>
> --------
> I got my first live look at Aroldis Chapman on Monday in a game in
> Goodyear, Ariz., that was attended by a few hundred other people --
> probably not what the city of Goodyear had in mind when they paid for
> the stadium -- and I have a two-word scouting report: That'll work.
>
> Chapman pitched mostly at 94-96 mph, but touched 98 with the fastball,
> and was as low as 91. He located the pitch pretty well, especially
> considering the velocity. His slider was absolutely toxic at 87-90 mph
> with tilt and an incredibly sharp break -- it's the velocity of an
> average fastball for a left-hander with the movement of a plus
> breaking pitch. It's slider-like against lefties but also displayed
> the depth of a curveball on one pitch when he raised his arm slot
> against a right-handed hitter. He threw one changeup at 80 mph that
> had some fading action, although I imagine that a hitter geared up for
> 96 is going to swing about an hour early at a Chapman change.
>
> What really jumps out about Chapman isn't that he touches 98 with his
> fastball -- while not common, it's certainly not unheard-of -- but
> that he does it so easily.
>
> There are big league starters who look like they're playing catch when
> they pitch, like Livan Hernandez; there are almost no big league
> pitchers who look like they're playing catch at 96 or 98 mph. But
> Chapman does. His arm is loose and quick, and he makes a relatively
> easy thrower like Steven Strasburg look high-effort by comparison.
>
> In terms of mechanics, Chapman takes an enormous stride toward the
> plate and pronates his arm reasonably early; the arm path isn't long
> and there's no violence or other major red flags in the delivery. If
> he stays healthy, he's a No. 1 starter, and should be able to come
> north with the Reds in some role this year if they want him on the big
> league roster.
> -----------
>
> Wow.  Here's hoping that the folks upstairs keep Dusty on a short
> leash when Chapman makes it to the show!

I generally dont like to see a man lose his job, but this could
realistically be Dusty's last year here, so he might not get too much
of a chance to overuse Chapman.
From: JustTom on
On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 08:27:15 -0800 (PST), tom dunne <dunnetg(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>--------
>
>What really jumps out about Chapman isn't that he touches 98 with his
>fastball -- while not common, it's certainly not unheard-of -- but
>that he does it so easily.

This seems to be a common theme with every scout I've read that has
seen him...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/03/08/chapman.debut/index.html


"But the amazing part was the ease ... there was no grunting, no
straining, no laboring. You hear that line all the time about athletes
who look as if they were born to do something. Chapman struck out
David DeJesus on a hard-sweeping slider that seemed to break two feet.
He struck out Chris Getz on a 100-mph fastball that sliced the outside
corner -- anyway Stewart clocked the pitch at 100 mph. Another scout
clocked it at 102. Another got it at 98. Getz's speed approximation:
"It was moving.""


I don't do the WBC thing, so I'm looking forward to seeing him
pitch.



From: Dan Szymborski on
On Mar 9, 5:15 pm, t...(a)nomail.please (JustTom) wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 08:27:15 -0800 (PST), tom dunne <dunn...(a)gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >--------
>
> >What really jumps out about Chapman isn't that he touches 98 with his
> >fastball -- while not common, it's certainly not unheard-of -- but
> >that he does it so easily.
>
> This seems to be a common theme with every scout I've read that has
> seen him...
>
> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/03/08/cha...
>
> "But the amazing part was the ease ... there was no grunting, no
> straining, no laboring. You hear that line all the time about athletes
> who look as if they were born to do something. Chapman struck out
> David DeJesus on a hard-sweeping slider that seemed to break two feet.
> He struck out Chris Getz on a 100-mph fastball that sliced the outside
> corner -- anyway Stewart clocked the pitch at 100 mph. Another scout
> clocked it at 102. Another got it at 98. Getz's speed approximation:
> "It was moving.""
>
> I don't do the WBC thing, so I'm looking forward to  seeing  him
> pitch.    

For purely selfish reasons, I was hoping to escape having to project
Chapman. Now it's looking like I'm going to have to.

--
Dan Szymborski
dan(a)baseballprimer.com
From: JustTom on
On Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:39:22 -0800 (PST), Dan Szymborski
<dszymborski(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>For purely selfish reasons,


???

I didn't think the O's were in on him?



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