As of draft day - Matusz or Gausman?

[section18]

I would have taken Gausman over Matusz due to the power arm. Normally I favor lefthanders but Gausman has a lot of potential. It would be great if Jim Palmer could work with him on his curve and change unless there's someone better in our system to work with him. Peterson?

[Capn Vivi]

Even on draft day, everyone said Matusz' worst pitch was his fastball. Here they're saying Gausman's worst pitch is his slider/curve. Let's see how this turns out.

[Lucky Jim]

I would have taken Gausman over Matusz due to the power arm. Normally I favor lefthanders but Gausman has a lot of potential. It would be great if Jim Palmer could work with him on his curve and change unless there's someone better in our system to work with him. Peterson?

Yes. Preferably someone employed specifically for the job, no?

[Runs2the1Show]

I picked Gausman, and that's no slight to Matusz. I think Matusz will continue to be very good, but I love the downward plane that Gausman throws on. I love his power, and think he can add more tilt to his slurve to make it an effective offering. I'd love to see him develop a hard sinker, or maybe a nice over the top curve, a la Justin Verlander.

Either way, I'm glad we have both Gausman and Matusz on our side.

[oriolekid]

Matusz

A college lefty with superior command, and 3 plus pitches and an average 4th? Yeah I'll take him over Gausman, but not by much.

[RVAbird]

Close call. At draft time, I'd pick Matusz due to the strength of his secondaries and his control/pitchability. But Gausman has a considerably better fastball and more physical projection (and a plus change to boot), and may have the higher ceiling. You just need to coax a little more development and some mechanical adjustments out of him in the minor leagues.

[Runs2the1Show]

Matusz

A college lefty with superior command, and 3 plus pitches and an average 4th? Yeah I'll take him over Gausman, but not by much.

I don't know if you can say Matusz has three plus pitches. I think most scouts would say all of his pitches are at least average, with maybe his curve and change being above. His polish was what made him highly regarded out of San Diego.

[Lucky Jim]

I don't know if you can say Matusz has three plus pitches. I think most scouts would say all of his pitches are at least average, with maybe his curve and change being above. His polish was what made him highly regarded out of San Diego.

This. .......

[theobird]

Gausman has a plus-plus fastball and a plus change up. The issue is a breaking ball. There is some encouragement in the development of his slider, and I like the pick a lot. As per Frobby's question, I think I would take Matusz but that is only because I place a small premium on Lefties. They are really quite different pitchers though. Matusz is a pitchers pitcher, while Gausman is a power arm. I am very excited about a future rotation with Matusz, Gausman and Bundy! IMO, Bundy has the ceiling of a No. 1, while Matusz and Gausman have no. 2-3 ceilings.

Interestingly I was on the edge between Gausman and Zimmer, who was picked by the Royals at no. 5. I think I would have picked Zimmer, but it was very close to me and both guys are nice power armed RHers. No way to critiize either selection.

[24fps]

Matusz because of his polish, but not by much. Good question.

[NCRaven]

Gausman has a plus-plus fastball and a plus change up. The issue is a breaking ball. There is some encouragement in the development of his slider, and I like the pick a lot. As per Frobby's question, I think I would take Matusz but that is only because I place a small premium on Lefties. They are really quite different pitchers though. Matusz is a pitchers pitcher, while Gausman is a power arm. I am very excited about a future rotation with Matusz, Gausman and Bundy! IMO, Bundy has the ceiling of a No. 1, while Matusz and Gausman have no. 2-3 ceilings.

Interestingly I was on the edge between Gausman and Zimmer, who was picked by the Royals at no. 5. I think I would have picked Zimmer, but it was very close to me and both guys are nice power armed RHers. No way to critiize either selection.

I think you can add Britton in there as well, if (a big if) his shoulder holds up and physical maturity adds some durability over time. That foursome would be an extremely solid base on which to build.

As to Matusz vs. Gausman, I really like Matusz and think the light has gone on for him. But, how can you not pick someone who eats mini-frosted-donuts between innnings? He's just like me, only 60 pounds lighter. Come to think about it, this might be a red flag. :scratchchinhmm:

[LookinUp]

For what it's worth, Stotle has a great graph of his rankings over at his site. For draft-day grades, he has Gausman pretty significantly ahead of Matusz, and also ahead of Bundy (who I'm assuming was dinged for competition and workload issues), Machado (dinged for ability to stick at SS) and a lot of other talent we've heard of before. Overall, he has Gausman as the 8th best talent in the last 5 years.

I suspect Stotle differs from some of the other prognisticators because he believes Gausman's slider is a future plus pitch. With the plus-plus fastball and the plus change, it makes sense to have him rated so highly.

http://www.camdendepot.blogspot.com/2012/06/comparison-of-draft-talent-2008-2012.html

[oriolekid]

I don't know if you can say Matusz has three plus pitches. I think most scouts would say all of his pitches are at least average, with maybe his curve and change being above. His polish was what made him highly regarded out of San Diego.

Admittedly I use plus way too much but according to Matusz scouting reports, most of them have his three offspeed pitches at 60 with his change as 65. I think having three 60+ pitches is close to plus.

[Araqnid]

Matusz.

I was extremely high on Matusz, and even throughout his losing streak I still thought he'd turn it around, based off the strength of his 2010 2nd half. That said, I'm very high on Gausman, and I can't recall ever having to think this much for a poll question.