Matusz updates

[Frobby]

Thanks NMS and Big Mac for your reports. It sounds to me like Matusz had an off day with at least some of his breaking stuff, as his reputation is that he has very good command of those pitches. It happens.

At this point I think he's probably going to stay at Frederick until he has dominated for a while, so mid-May would be about the earliest time I could foresee Matusz moving to Bowie.

[NewMarketSean]

I think he could handle Bowie right now with a sub 3.00 era. To say he is not dominating, to me is kind of crazy to say. His K/9 leads the league I believe. Half of the hits he gave up either would have been caught by major league fielders, or would not have happened because Matusz would have already been out of the inning. The guy could have pitched into the 8th with the same pitch count if his fielders would have caught what they were capable of.

I think AA hitters wouldn't be as overmatched as some of the A-level hitters are. I think he still has some stuff to work on, especially holding runners and quickening his delivery to the plate with runners on.

Agreed on all the other stuff though.

[The Pride of PG]

In response to Stotle. I'm pretty sure he referred to it as a slider and not a cutter. I'll check that file and ask him next chance I get, if it helps. Of course, other OHers know him much better than I could based on one three-minute interview.

FWIW, Baseball America, Sickels and McKamey refer to it as a slider. Make of that what you will, of course.

[Stotle]

In response to Stotle. I'm pretty sure he referred to it as a slider and not a cutter. I'll check that file and ask him next chance I get, if it helps. Of course, other OHers know him much better than I could based on one three-minute interview.

FWIW, Baseball America and Sickels refer to it as a slider.

Right, most scouting services refer to it as a slider. But his coach of three years refers to it as a cutter that moves w/slider depth. I've never heard Matusz himself refer to it at all, so I was curious. For what it's worth, a lot of times some incorrect info can simply spread around the scouting world, especially when people report second and third hand. Also, Sickels doesn't really have a scouting background (so far as I know) so his info is going to come from another source. That is, he probably isn't the best source of specific scouting info/terminology, though he is well respected with regards to reporting and rating MiLers.

[The Pride of PG]

Roger on Sickels. I'm also not a scout, but I'm sure you know some folks who are and could tell the difference without blinking. I'm happy to ask the next time I get up to Frederick, though.

[crawdad]

Roger on Sickels. I'm also not a scout, but I'm sure you know some folks who are and could tell the difference without blinking. I'm happy to ask the next time I get up to Frederick, though.

Some things are just overlooked or misspoken . . . then repeated. Remember when everyone was going nuts about Dice-K's gyroball. Turns out it was just a shuuto. Still . . . scouts talked about his gyroball.