Matt Hobgood - is there hope? (No, there is not. Indy League bound.)

[Tony-OH]

Thanks very much for posting this. It's great to see Matt having some success after the physical struggles he's had.

It sounds like his velocity is not quite all the way back. He said he was throwing 88-92, touching 93. But that's something to pay attention to later. For now, I'm just hoping for him to have a healthy year, get in maybe 80 IP, and make it to Frederick at some point.

It's interesting to see that he's not striking out that many guys, and his GB rate is lower than when he first arrived, but he's allowing very few hits and hasn't given up a homer. His BABIP must be extremely low, and probably will come up as the season progresses.

It's .183 which is the lowest in the minor league system for a pitcher with ten or more innings. Guys just aren't hitting him very hard right now. He's given up just a 10% LD rate and only one extra base hit for a ridiculously low .013 ISO. Like you pointed out, he's not missing many bats and his 55% groundball rate is good but not extraordinarily good. It just appears that whatever he's doing, guys are not squaring him up even if they're not totally fooled. His 4.45 SIERA (Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average) suggests he could be in for some normalization soon.

Taking everything into consideration, I'd probably move him to Frederick's bullpen soon and see how he handles the better hitters. Glad to see him do well though.

[DrShorebird]

If all continues well, look for a June move up.

[Frobby]

Hobgood got touched up a little tonight, 5 H and 2 ER in 3 IP.

[DrShorebird]

Yes, but the good news is that his VELO is back! Matt started a little off in his first inning. However, in his second inning of relief, I noticed that his FB was averaging 1 - 2 MPH faster aand was topping out about 3 MPH faster. In his 3rd inning, he let it all hang out. He was averaging 93-94 and topping out at 96 MPH ON SCOUTS RADAR GUNS. His last 3 pitches were 96, 96, and 95. He had hit 96 several times earlier in the inning. All confirmed by scouts. His control wasn't as sharp as in the past couple of games, but it got better as he went along. Matt is coming back!

[McNulty]

He tweeted he hit 97 tonight. Awesome.

[tilgaham]

If he can locate at 94, we may just have ourselves something :clap3:

[eb45]

He'd be a college senior this year, right?

[skanar]

He'd be a college senior this year, right?

This is a strong argument to maintain some hope for any "busted" HS prospect a few years in. Sickels had a similar justification for putting Michael Ohlman in his org top 20. It can be phrased as, "Suppose this player had his MiL record as his college record. Where would he be drafted?"

[xian4]

This is a strong argument to maintain some hope for any "busted" HS prospect a few years in. Sickels had a similar justification for putting Michael Ohlman in his org top 20. It can be phrased as, "Suppose this player had his MiL record as his college record. Where would he be drafted?"

Matt got drafted too high, that is a given by most scouts. But every case is individual, it doesn't look as if Matt was ever injury free in his minor league career. I'm quite happy to give him a clean sheet and let his arm do the talking and see what his ceiling is, we may just get a nice surprise.

[Enjoy Terror]

Any player that makes it out of that draft would be a win at this point. There are only 9 players left and Kelly, Hobgood, Givens and Berry are the only ones who have any glimmer of hope for making the big show.

[Tony-OH]

Yes, but the good news is that his VELO is back! Matt started a little off in his first inning. However, in his second inning of relief, I noticed that his FB was averaging 1 - 2 MPH faster aand was topping out about 3 MPH faster. In his 3rd inning, he let it all hang out. He was averaging 93-94 and topping out at 96 MPH ON SCOUTS RADAR GUNS. His last 3 pitches were 96, 96, and 95. He had hit 96 several times earlier in the inning. All confirmed by scouts. His control wasn't as sharp as in the past couple of games, but it got better as he went along. Matt is coming back!

Thanks for the report Doc. Good to hear his velocity is returning.

[weams]

Thanks for the report Doc. Good to hear his velocity is returning.

Doc's interview.

[Matt's Uncle]

Hi there...sorry that I don't know your name. I was wondering if Matt still views himself as a starting pitcher?

Thanks in advance

My name is Evan and I'm not certain if Matt sees himself as a starting pitcher but definitely as a pitcher. As Matt has said earlier in the season, he's at about 80 - 85% so hearing that he's hitting 96 doesn't surprise me. It's very exciting and he's not having the pain that he was having before the surgery. As I've said before, he's in the best shape of his life (IMO). So far, so AWESOME!

[Roll Tide]

My name is Evan and I'm not certain if Matt sees himself as a starting pitcher but definitely as a pitcher. As Matt has said earlier in the season' date=' he's at about 80 - 85% so hearing that he's hitting 96 doesn't surprise me. It's very exciting and he's not having the pain that he was having before the surgery. As I've said before, he's in the best shape of his life (IMO). So far, so AWESOME![/quote']

Thanks for the response

[flaoriolesfan]

So far tonight 4 IP-0 Hits-0 BB-5 SO