New Article: "Matt Hobgood: Mid-Term Report" by Doc Shorebird

[Frobby]

The aritcle has a lot of good information, but I have to say it reads like Doc is very sympathetic to the young guy and threw him some softballs to allow him to make some excuses.

I'm not pleased that Hobgood weighs 265 pounds. I don't care that he gained some muscle and lost some fat, and I don't care that you don't want a player trying to lose a lot of weight during the season. He shouldn't have been gaining any weight after finishing high school and playing for the Orioles. It should have been relatively easy for him to gain some muscle, lose some fat and weigh less than he weighed in June 2009 when we drafted him. He's a professional athlete now, he needs his body to be in better shape than that.

I have concerns about his velocity, too. I don't need him to "touch 98" as he supposedly did at some point in high school. But when you are the no. 5 pick, you ought to be sitting a lot higher than 87-90. Nobody with that kind of velocity gets drafted that high. Sure a pitcher might succeed with that velocity, but nobody's looking for that in the 1st round of the draft, much less the top 5. And I don't buy the explanations that he's under a heavier workload and is working on a changeup. Show me another HS pitcher in our system with that kind of drop in his velocity after HS.

In short, I'm not panicked, but I'm concerned. I don't buy the Loewen comp; Loewen struck out a fair number of guys at every level he pitched even if he struggled in certain respects.

At this point, all I want is for Hobgood to get through the season with a healthy arm, make some progress in learning how to pitch, and be ready to work his butt off -- literally -- this offseason and show up in better shape next year. He's doing enough to get promoted to Frederick next season, so this year isn't a disaster, but he needs to get off this glidepath in 2011.

To Matt's family, if you are reading this -- I believe everything that has been written here and elsewhere about what a fine young man Matt is. I just feel he needs to realize that 265 is not a good weight for a 19-year old pitcher, and do something about it this offseason.

[wayne25]

The aritcle has a lot of good information, but I have to say it reads like Doc is very sympathetic to the young guy and threw him some softballs to allow him to make some excuses.

I'm not pleased that Hobgood weighs 265 pounds. I don't care that he gained some muscle and lost some fat, and I don't care that you don't want a player trying to lose a lot of weight during the season. He shouldn't have been gaining any weight after finishing high school and playing for the Orioles. It should have been relatively easy for him to gain some muscle, lose some fat and weigh less than he weighed in June 2010. He's a professional athlete now, he needs his body to be in better shape than that.

I have concerns about his velocity, too. I don't need him to "touch 98" as he supposedly did at some point in high school. But when you are the no. 5 pick, you ought to be sitting a lot higher than 87-90. Nobody with that kind of velocity gets drafted that high. Sure a pitcher might succeed with that velocity, but nobody's looking for that in the 1st round of the draft, much less the top 5. And I don't buy the explanations that he's under a heavier workload and is working on a changeup. Show me another HS pitcher in our system with that kind of drop in his velocity after HS.

In short, I'm not panicked, but I'm concerned. I don't buy the Loewen comp; Loewen struck out a fair number of guys at every level he pitched even if he struggled in certain respects.

At this point, all I want is for Hobgood to get through the season with a healthy arm, make some progress in learning how to pitch, and be ready to work his butt off -- literally -- this offseason and show up in better shape next year. He's doing enough to get promoted to Frederick next season, so this year isn't a disaster, but he needs to get off this glidepath in 2011.

To Matt's family, if you are reading this -- I believe everything that has been written here and elsewhere about what a fine young man Matt is. I just feel he needs to realize that 265 is not a good weight for a 19-year old pitcher, and do something about it this offseason.

AMEN, BROTHER,, show me a man, or young man with 16% body fat, and I'll show you an "out of shape young man". This is just plain silly, for matt's uncle or our pitching coaches to come to any other conclusion about 16 % body fat. He's had a year to do something about it, and is being paid to be fit , at 19 for crying out loud. All I'm seeeing is excuses, excuses , excuses. Unless he is hurt, There is no excuse for this. And even if he is hurt, you can still lose body FAT.

[Frobby]

AMEN, BROTHER,, show me a man, or young man with 16% body fat, and I'll show you an "out of shape young man". This is just plain silly, for matt's uncle or our pitching coaches to come to any other conclusion about 16 % body fat. He's had a year to do something about it, and is being paid to be fit , at 19 for crying out loud. All I'm seeeing is excuses, excuses , excuses. Unless he is hurt, There is no excuse for this. And even if he is hurt, you can still lose body FAT.

I agree with the substance of what you are saying but not the tone. As the father of a 20-year old, I realize that Matt can be a very responsible, nice young man and still have some "blind spots.". So, he still has time to mature and grow and realize that certain things need to be a higher priority.

[Sports Guy]

Sure wish we had this guy in the system instead.

[Miller192]

Sure wish we had this guy in the system instead.

You might lead the league in pissed off relatives

[Stotle]

Sure wish we had this guy in the system instead.

Love me some Green. Looking forward to seeing what he does in the upper-levels. Jury certainly still out on his game, but could be a very solid get for Oakland.

[Singleton]

The aritcle has a lot of good information, but I have to say it reads like Doc is very sympathetic to the young guy and threw him some softballs to allow him to make some excuses.

I'm not pleased that Hobgood weighs 265 pounds. I don't care that he gained some muscle and lost some fat, and I don't care that you don't want a player trying to lose a lot of weight during the season. He shouldn't have been gaining any weight after finishing high school and playing for the Orioles. It should have been relatively easy for him to gain some muscle, lose some fat and weigh less than he weighed in June 2010. He's a professional athlete now, he needs his body to be in better shape than that.

I have concerns about his velocity, too. I don't need him to "touch 98" as he supposedly did at some point in high school. But when you are the no. 5 pick, you ought to be sitting a lot higher than 87-90. Nobody with that kind of velocity gets drafted that high. Sure a pitcher might succeed with that velocity, but nobody's looking for that in the 1st round of the draft, much less the top 5. And I don't buy the explanations that he's under a heavier workload and is working on a changeup. Show me another HS pitcher in our system with that kind of drop in his velocity after HS.

In short, I'm not panicked, but I'm concerned. I don't buy the Loewen comp; Loewen struck out a fair number of guys at every level he pitched even if he struggled in certain respects.

At this point, all I want is for Hobgood to get through the season with a healthy arm, make some progress in learning how to pitch, and be ready to work his butt off -- literally -- this offseason and show up in better shape next year. He's doing enough to get promoted to Frederick next season, so this year isn't a disaster, but he needs to get off this glidepath in 2011.

To Matt's family, if you are reading this -- I believe everything that has been written here and elsewhere about what a fine young man Matt is. I just feel he needs to realize that 265 is not a good weight for a 19-year old pitcher, and do something about it this offseason.

Excellent post and I agree that the interview, while very informative was very sympathetic.

I have another question for the draftniks here. I appreciate that HS picks are typically less of a finished product than college players but I was struck by the info that the #5 pick in the draft was a 2 pitch pitcher with almost no experience throwing a change up. Since the ability to throw this pitch is critical to his ability to be a big league starter, it seems a huge leap of faith to hope he will pick it up -- again for a #5 pick. To those that know more, am I wrong in this assessment?

[NoVaO]

Just wanted to offer my thoughts on Hobgood. I was going to make a separate thread, but didn't want to clutter up the board.

In any case, I did a write-up on my site, which you can read here, but be warned it's Subscriber-based content. However, I'll delve into the hidden content here...

First, in regards to his velocity, there was no radar gun, but I was able to get a glimpse of the scoreboard on four of his pitches:

Three fastballs - 89 and 87

One Curveball - 76

One Change-Up - 82

It's possible the radar gun was off considering the opposing pitcher I also saw clocked at 87 and he's usually a little higher than that. But still, not good news on the velocity front, which I'll go over a bit more in a second.

What I found most striking was how inconsistent his mechanics were. They would vary from pitch-to-pitch. His arm slot would range anywhere from high 3/4 to a normal 3/4 slot. Other inconsistencies included the timing of his hand break, the amount of arch in his bat as he loaded his arm, the amount of bend in his back leg as he strides forward...numerous inconsistencies.

Now, the inconsistent mechanics could certainly impact his velocity, but he's definitely a different pitcher mechanically than he was when drafted. It's something I'll probably do a future article on, but here is a quick summary...

1. They have slowed him down....tempo (the rate the body is moving into release) is about two or three frames slower than it was prior to being drafted. He's more under control...less "violence" in his delivery.

2. They have shortened the stride of his delivery...that may have involved incorporating a less forceful "kick-out", which is something that he uses to initiate an aggressive rotation of the hips...

The shorter stride, the slower tempo, the smoother delivery, and possibly the less forceful/aggressive kick-out -- each change can hinder a pitcher's velocity, especially when all four mechanical adjustments are used on one pitcher.

The one positive change they have made to his mechanics were on the front side. His glove is in a much more stable position out in front of the chest, especially on his fastball, which helps in keeping the front shoulder closed and is associated with better command. However, his front side mechanics do change when throwing the curveball.

And of course, none of that matters if a pitcher can't repeat his mechanics consistently, which Hobgood isn't doing right now.

The biggest positive for me was definitely the curveball. It can be a true out pitch and he actually commanded the pitch better than his fastball. I'd like to see him stick with the higher arm slot because that is the slot his curveball comes from.

Change-up showed promise, but was a little inconsistent and he didn't throw many.

I think the biggest thing to take from this is the development team the Orioles have in place seems to have worked with Hobgood on correcting his mechanical problems. Thus far, the results being decreased velocity, a struggle to repeat his mechanics, and inconsistent command. What does that tell you?

[Arthur_Bryant]

I think the biggest thing to take from this is the development team the Orioles have in place seems to have worked with Hobgood on correcting his mechanical problems. Thus far, the results being decreased velocity, a struggle to repeat his mechanics, and inconsistent command. What does that tell you?

Ouch. If your observations are accurate (and I believe that you know what you're talking about) then Joe Jordan must be pretty ticked at what has happened to his Overall #5.

Sounds to me as if Hobgood may be Ground Zero in the scouting/development war.

(BTW, 5-7 MPH isn't much differential between FB and change).

[Gurgi]

Lets all pray he isnt a pitchers version of Billy Rowell.

I have lost lots of respect with Jordan for the Snyder, Rowell picks. Snyder couldnt stay at his drafted position of catcher and Rowell has stunk up the joint.

Not great picks. Now if Hobgood goes the Rowell direction we might have to storm the warehouse to get rid of Jordan.

[Old#5fan]

Ouch. If your observations are accurate (and I believe that you know what you're talking about) then Joe Jordan must be pretty ticked at what has happened to his Overall #5.

Sounds to me as if Hobgood may be Ground Zero in the scouting/development war.

(BTW, 5-7 MPH isn't much differential between FB and change).

Man this pisses me off if this is true!:cussing::angryfire: What the hell is wrong with the scouting department and especially Jordan if he couldn't tell his top choice had "mechanical issues" before they invested the frigging #5 pick on him? That to me is beyond stupid, its almost insanely stupid :cussing:

[Old#5fan]

Just wanted to offer my thoughts on Hobgood. I was going to make a separate thread, but didn't want to clutter up the board.

In any case, I did a write-up on my site, which you can read here, but be warned it's Subscriber-based content. However, I'll delve into the hidden content here...

First, in regards to his velocity, there was no radar gun, but I was able to get a glimpse of the scoreboard on four of his pitches:

Three fastballs - 89 and 87

One Curveball - 76

One Change-Up - 82

It's possible the radar gun was off considering the opposing pitcher I also saw clocked at 87 and he's usually a little higher than that. But still, not good news on the velocity front, which I'll go over a bit more in a second.

What I found most striking was how inconsistent his mechanics were. They would vary from pitch-to-pitch. His arm slot would range anywhere from high 3/4 to a normal 3/4 slot. Other inconsistencies included the timing of his hand break, the amount of arch in his bat as he loaded his arm, the amount of bend in his back leg as he strides forward...numerous inconsistencies.

Now, the inconsistent mechanics could certainly impact his velocity, but he's definitely a different pitcher mechanically than he was when drafted. It's something I'll probably do a future article on, but here is a quick summary...

1. They have slowed him down....tempo (the rate the body is moving into release) is about two or three frames slower than it was prior to being drafted. He's more under control...less "violence" in his delivery.

2. They have shortened the stride of his delivery...that may have involved incorporating a less forceful "kick-out", which is something that he uses to initiate an aggressive rotation of the hips...

The shorter stride, the slower tempo, the smoother delivery, and possibly the less forceful/aggressive kick-out -- each change can hinder a pitcher's velocity, especially when all four mechanical adjustments are used on one pitcher.

The one positive change they have made to his mechanics were on the front side. His glove is in a much more stable position out in front of the chest, especially on his fastball, which helps in keeping the front shoulder closed and is associated with better command. However, his front side mechanics do change when throwing the curveball.

And of course, none of that matters if a pitcher can't repeat his mechanics consistently, which Hobgood isn't doing right now.

The biggest positive for me was definitely the curveball. It can be a true out pitch and he actually commanded the pitch better than his fastball. I'd like to see him stick with the higher arm slot because that is the slot his curveball comes from.

Change-up showed promise, but was a little inconsistent and he didn't throw many.

I think the biggest thing to take from this is the development team the Orioles have in place seems to have worked with Hobgood on correcting his mechanical problems. Thus far, the results being decreased velocity, a struggle to repeat his mechanics, and inconsistent command. What does that tell you?

It tells me they must be morons for drafting someone at #5 if his mechanics were so much in need of change or it tells me they are stupidly messing the kid up permanently (decreasing his velocity) by making unnecessary changes. Who is in charge of this? Are the inmates running this asylum of an organization from McPhail on down through Jordan and his coaches?

[psk3170]

Rangers Pitcher Tommy Hunter last night seemed like a great comp to what Hobgood could become if Jordon is right about him. Hunter was a big dude with thick legs and some girth similar to the pictures I have seen of Hobgood.

[Old#5fan]

Rangers Pitcher Tommy Hunter last night seemed like a great comp to what Hobgood could become if Jordon is right about him. Hunter was a big dude with thick legs and some girth similar to the pictures I have seen of Hobgood.

I wonder how his minor league comps compare to Hobgoods?:scratchchinhmm: He does resemble him in size and shape.

[Tony-OH]

Sure wish we had this guy in the system instead.

Tell you the truth, I'm not impressed with those numbers in the California League for a 22-year old especially for a guy who most scouts don't believe will stick at short.