TT: Gausman's time will come, but it's not now

[Tony-OH]

The big guy stealing my thunder..

(see post #65 )

Haha, I saw it actually, good post. I just wanted to re-emphasize the striek zone plot because I truly think this shows his problems more than anything. He was a bit better in the first start for location, but as you can see, he still tends to miss in the middle of the plate.

One of his problems in the first start was when he missed, he seemed to miss by a lot, then had to come in a groove pitches:

[Hank Scorpio]

...I'd still prefer Gausman over Arrieta.

[soxhotcorner14]

I know Tony won't change course over one start, but I wonder if he questions just how clear it is that Gausman isn't ready after today? Consistently down in the zone. Very few balls squared up. The Tigers would not bit on a lot of close pitchers either. They really made him work. The 3-0 pitch that Fielder hit out was middle at the knees, not a bad pitch especially on a 3-0.

This was my first time getting to watch Gausman throw. I can tell you Tony is spot on in his analysis. The fastball constantly misses in the middle of the plate. His change is a plus pitch, slider needs a lot of work. What gets him out of his mistakes is the fact his fastball gets on people quicker than normal.

Today he made good pitches at times, but you could see where Snyder was setting up he was missing the spot quite a bit. At one point Snyder came out to talk to him about it.if Gausman can get control of that fastball and just improve that slider some. He can be a legit number 1 or 2 starter. Great thing about Gausman is he's so young and has a ton of upside.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I know Tony won't change course over one start, but I wonder if he questions just how clear it is that Gausman isn't ready after today? Consistently down in the zone. Very few balls squared up. The Tigers would not bit on a lot of close pitchers either. They really made him work. The 3-0 pitch that Fielder hit out was middle at the knees, not a bad pitch especially on a 3-0.

He definitely matched the Peterson rhetoric today, that's for sure. Be interesting to compare the 2S/4S mix between this and his previous 2 starts. Liked the job Snyder did and getting low strike calls by the umps helped today.

[Rene88]

He looked good, but one start isn't a trend. We will need to see consistency.

[BohKnowsBmore]

He looked good, but one start isn't a trend. We will need to see consistency.

I don't think two starts could be considered a trend either.

[Majopa]

He looked good, but one start isn't a trend.

But 2 starts apparently is. Which is why I find this thread ludicrous.

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

IF you had watched him his first two times, you would have noticed the large contrast in performances. Most of the pitches down today. He either went to a two seamer more or just sacrificed velocity for location. A lot more 93 mph fastballs today where he averaged 96.5 in his first start. Yeah, he wasn't perfect and missed location at times but most of the time it was in and out, not up and down.

Agreed with this analysis. Today was different. He was hitting the corners. That looked like the guy with solid command that I'd been hearing about.

[Crazysilver03]

With no timetable on Chen's return, I think we will continue to see Gausman for a while.

[Bagel Necklace]

He needs to learn how to get major league hitters out and keep his pitch count down, no sense sending him down to Norfolk to do that, I think at this point he is up for good and will continue to progress.

[crowmst3k!]

He actually pitched today, instead of they throwing. He looked very good

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[Flash- bd]

But 2 starts apparently is. Which is why I find this thread ludicrous.

Ludicrous is too strong a word--good analysis is never a bad thing, it's not like Tony-OH was saying that these 2 starts prove that Gausman won't pitch well in his next one, or that he's no good, etc.--but I kinda agree. I didn't post in this thread because I just don't think 2 ML starts was enough data to tell much of anything.

Though I didn't have the benefit of watching Kevin Gausman in the minors as Tony and others did, from the reports I read from them and others I was a bit disappointed to see them make the move for Gausman so early, and echoing what I think Malike said in the game thread it felt to me a bit like they were trying to catch lightning in a bottle--as they did with Machado--twice. I would've preferred for him to at least get past the super 2 deadline and get 3-4 more starts. But now that they've brought him up, we're really not going to have a good read on how his stuff + control (as it is now) plays at the ML level until at least 5-6 starts in. After 2 starts--his first 2 ML starts--there's too much noise, too much going on psychologically that could confound a lot of our conclusions, etc.

Ultimately, he's got #1/#2 stuff and by all accounts a good head on his shoulders. Over a big sample that is going to dictate him having a better chance of (relative) success than failure. IMO, from a big picture standpoint, it's almost as simple as that.

[Lester Freamon]

Lots of 3-2 counts early in the game, but he battled. Like to see that.

Yeah, that was very concerning early on, and obviously the reason he didn't pitch past the sixth. Encouraging though, despite that, he didn't walk any batters on his final line.

[LA2]

Gausman will learn.

Gausman will adjust.

Gausman will own the Tigers.

Tigers love pepper.

Gausman is salt.

The end.

Haha, you're definitely the Mayor at least for today!

[scOtt]

With no timetable on Chen's return, I think we will continue to see Gausman for a while.

Definitely THAT!

Showed many emerging clues today! Also like was said, missed BAD on a couple locations, mostly so bad that the hitter swung thru it. I'll just say he's learning fast. Ask MCab what kind of pitcher this young man is.