Video: Matt Hobgood, 3/10/10

[bobmc]

Matt said he felt real good today after throwing that BP yesterday. What a Big, Strong, and nice young man. We will be glad to have him (assuming he is hitting 91-93 mph).

On a side note, the Minor league camp seems well run this year. Tight scheduling, constaint movement and instruction, and no slacking.

Keep these reports coming no matter what OF#5 fan or others bemoan! We can make our own observations or just believe RZNJ, whatever! :scratchchinhmm:

[Tony-OH]

Why do we need to wait for peformance to comment on the fact that he looks much heavier than he did at this time last year. It doesn't mean he won't throw well or turn out to be a great pick. At this point, it's just very curious that a guy who supposedly turned himself into a lean, mean, fighting machine (relatively speaking) looks to have put on at least 30 pounds since last high school season. Even he admits he didn't come in at the weight that the Orioles wanted him to. I'd be shocked if the Orioles themselves and Joe Jordan aren't concerned about Hobgood's weight.

You don't have to wait for anything. My only point is I'll wait to see how he's throwing before being concerned over the lower half of his body. If I get reports back that he's out of shape or his velocity is still down, then I'll have some concern, until then I'm not concerned. You guys can be concerned all you like.

[Tony-OH]

Wow. Starting to really regret having posted this now. Guess there really isn't enough good info that can come out of a minor league spring training video to make any difference, except to incite a lot of speculation about any number of things. So sorry.

Nothing to be sorry about D. Keep the video's coming.

[McLovin]

Wow. Starting to really regret having posted this now. Guess there really isn't enough good info that can come out of a minor league spring training video to make any difference, except to incite a lot of speculation about any number of things. So sorry.

Are we to only discuss the positive?

[Frobby]

By the way, not everyone is down on Hobgood:

Baseball America recently released its list of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Four Orioles made the list with Brian Matusz rated 5th, Josh Bell 37th, Zach Britton 63rd and Jake Arrieta 99th.

We now know that other O's got votes to make the top 100.

In a story on its website, Baseball America's Jim Callis said the four staff members that selected the top 100 began the process by each submitting their list of the top 150 prospects.

Three O's got votes for those top 150 lists, but in the end, did not make the top 100. Pitcher Matt Hobgood was listed by three of the staff members on their orginal rankings and was rated as high as 63rd.

Brandon Snyder and Brandon Erbe also were among the top 150 on some lists but didn't make the final list of the top 100.

http://masnsports.com/2010/03/looking-to-the-future-coffey-m.html

[Who's On 1st]

Matt said he felt real good today after throwing that BP yesterday. What a Big, Strong, and nice young man. We will be glad to have him.

On a side note, the Minor league camp seems well run this year. Tight scheduling, constaint movement and instruction, and no slacking.

Wow. Starting to really regret having posted this now. Guess there really isn't enough good info that can come out of a minor league spring training video to make any difference, except to incite a lot of speculation about any number of things. So sorry.

Weams & justD keep up the great job! :clap3::clap3::clap3:

And can you just stay there and give us reports?

[RichieRich]

Looks like a young Sidney Ponson...what could go wrong?

[LookinUp]

I don't like the Ponson comps. I know they're both overweight, but I don't think their deliveries or stuff are similar at all. Ponson had a 3/4 fastball that tailed to righties and a pretty flat slider. Hobgood looks like he's a little more over the top, and the video of his curve I saw several months ago would blow anything I've ever seen from Ponson out of the water. Of course, I've thought Ponson was over rated pretty much since day one.

Earlier in the thread, I made a comp to Clemens. I'm no expert, but I really did mean it as a favorable comp. His delivery looked relatively compact to me, with a nice leg drive (though not on Clemens level) and what I think looked like a solid core. Again, I'm no expert, so other opinions on the matter are welcome.

The big legs are a big plus. The core is what I want to hear about. If he's soft in the belly, that could just be fat covering a strong core (seriously, it can) or it could be demonstrative of a weak core. Weak core's lead to arm problems. Strong cores lead to sustainable stuff over multiple innings, appearances and months.

[Frobby]

How does the report by Baseball America conflict with any of the negative stuff said about Hobgood in this thread?

It doesn't. I put it in this thread because I had just read Melewksi's article and didn't want to start a whole new Hobgood-related thread. Putting aside the weight/laziness issue, there have been a lot of threads in which people have opined that Hobgood simply isn't an elite prospect. This was just intended to report that there are at least some people at BA who have a pretty high opinion of the guy. The weight/laziness issue is totally separate.

[Lucky Jim]

I don't like the Ponson comps. I know they're both overweight, but I don't think their deliveries or stuff are similar at all. Ponson had a 3/4 fastball that tailed to righties and a pretty flat slider. Hobgood looks like he's a little more over the top, and the video of his curve I saw several months ago would blow anything I've ever seen from Ponson out of the water. Of course, I've thought Ponson was over rated pretty much since day one.

Earlier in the thread, I made a comp to Clemens. I'm no expert, but I really did mean it as a favorable comp. His delivery looked relatively compact to me, with a nice leg drive (though not on Clemens level) and what I think looked like a solid core. Again, I'm no expert, so other opinions on the matter are welcome.

The big legs are a big plus. The core is what I want to hear about. If he's soft in the belly, that could just be fat covering a strong core (seriously, it can) or it could be demonstrative of a weak core. Weak core's lead to arm problems. Strong cores lead to sustainable stuff over multiple innings, appearances and months.

If I remember correctly, Ponson sat at around 93-95 MPH when he was first called up, and frequently was in the 95-97. By the time he left he was working 88-92.

[Flosman]

It funny how people can see different things out of the same video. I see a guy with a soft belly. Not prototypical but not so bad that he would not be able to be successful even with his current build. But those legs are NOT fat. You can clearly see the heads on his Quads even with his 18-24 percent body fat. Fat is NECCESSARY for power (do the research). I think Matt discovered something this offseason, just like the O's probably and the staff at API. Matt is not grown out yet. That is an enormous amount of muscle mass to add in a short period of time. There is growth left in his body. Comparing the HS pics and the current it does look like he has increased his body fat %, however he has dramatically increased his power base also. Now I am looking at it from a football coaches eyes so maybe that does not mean great things for a pitcher. However if he has also improved his flexability and explosiveness I see no reason why it wouldn't.

P.S. would love to take a look at him at left tackle....lol.

[Stotle]

I don't see mechanical issues with the video (though the back cage video has limited utility because of the obstructed view -- obviously no offense to the videographer).

Agree with those who have said that the weight becomes an issue when performance is impacted. If he's not progressing by the first month of the season, it's an issue. Not going to beat the alternate pick dead horse again - here's hoping Hobby has a productive first full year.

As an aside, looks like plenty of solid options at 1:3 this year, regardless of how much BAL wants to spend. Will hurt not to have a 2nd rounder.

[NewMarketSean]

I used to fall off drastically when I pitched and I don't see him falling off at all. From what I saw of this video his mechanics are fine.

[LookinUp]

If I remember correctly, Ponson sat at around 93-95 MPH when he was first called up, and frequently was in the 95-97. By the time he left he was working 88-92.

Yeah, but it was a hittable 93-95, if that makes sense. His action reminds me of Ray and Albers. It moved, but it was relatively flat and he had a ton of trouble moving it to both sides of the plate. He obviously had his moments (I was at the awesome Yankee game) but, IMO, he never had anywhere near the ceiling of a Hobgood (velocity, boring action, plus or maybe plus-plus curve, third pitch).

[Lucky Jim]

Yeah, but it was a hittable 93-95, if that makes sense. His action reminds me of Ray and Albers. It moved, but it was relatively flat and he had a ton of trouble moving it to both sides of the plate. He obviously had his moments (I was at the awesome Yankee game) but, IMO, he never had anywhere near the ceiling of a Hobgood (velocity, boring action, plus or maybe plus-plus curve, third pitch).

Yeah - sorry - for some reason I thought you were talking about velo and you clearly weren't - I'm at trial and so not reading thoroughly enough.