Roy Tucker
03-01-2007, 11:28 AM
I'd be happy with another Coffey-like reliever in the pen....
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301/SPT04/703010345/1071
Better breaking pitches could make Salmon
More complete repertoire boosts his effectiveness
BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM
SARASOTA, Fla. - Brad Salmon is the leader in the clubhouse in the Coming Out of Nowhere To Make the Reds Sweepstakes.
Salmon, the Reds' 21st-round choice in the 1999 draft, is scheduled to pitch an inning in the team's spring opener today against Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Fla.
He's caught everyone's attention in camp with a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s and a nasty split-finger pitch.
"Hopefully, they'll give me a second look," he said, "and I'll make the decision hard on them."
Salmon got on the Reds' radar by going 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA and five saves last year at Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.
Before last season, he had middling results. His fastball was always above average, but his breaking pitches weren't getting it done.
So after 2005, when he went a combined 3-8 with a 3.34 ERA and four saves in stops at Chattanooga and Louisville, he went to Winter Ball in Puerto Rico with a plan.
"I wanted to work on a few things as far as my splittie and my slider," he said. "It gave me a lot more confidence. I always had decent control of my fastball. My off-speed stuff was what hurt me. I'd get behind in the count and have to throw a fastball because I didn't trust my off- speed stuff.
He began trusting it last season, and it showed in his numbers.
He started the season in Chattanooga, going 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and two saves in 16 games. He walked 16 and struck out 24.
He did markedly better after a promotion to Louisville. He went 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA and allowed only 36 hits in 57 2/3 innings. But the biggest improvement was in his walks-to-strikeouts ratio: he struck out 72 and walked only 24.
"It seemed to just click," he said.
The Reds added Salmon to the 40-man roster after the season. He got a lot of attention from coaches and scouts early in camp.
Salmon throws 93 to 96 mph - as hard as anyone in the Reds' bullpen. The pitcher on the roster he's most similar to is Todd Coffey, who went 6-7 with a 3.58 ERA and eight saves and led the Reds with 81 appearances last year.
"They're similar," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Todd Coffey has very good command of his pitches. That's one thing where Coffey's ahead of him. Salmon may throw a little harder. Salmon's got a pretty good (split-finger); if he can throw that in the middle of the plate and down any at all, he's going to get a lot of swing-and-misses."
Salmon was ready for camp.
"The arm feels good," he said. "I worked hard this offseason. I came into camp in the best shape to try to impress somebody, make them take a second look at me."
IT'S A START: Homer Bailey tried to shrug off the significance of his spring debut, an intrasquad game in which he pitched against Bronson Arroyo.
"They let me go first so I could do a starter's routine. That was one benefit of it," he said. "... But I don't see it as a sign.
"Maybe they went in alphabetical order - Arroyo, then me."
JAVY HITS: Whether the Reds go with two or three catchers, Javier Valentine is going to be in the key left-handed pinch-hitting role.
"The way Javy can come off the bench and hit in that role, whether we've got anybody else or not, he's going to be used," Narron said. "If something happens, we'll piece it together at the end."
Valentin had four homers (one shy of a club record) and 12 RBI in 52 pinch-hit at-bats last year. He hit .286 with 12 homers and 25 RBI in 168 overall left-handed at-bats.
CUT SHORT: The Reds went only five innings in their intrasquad game rather than 51/2. David Weathers, one of the pitchers scheduled to go, is away from camp to be with his ailing mother.
FOUR-MAN ROTATION: Narron spent a lot of time discussing the four-man rotation Wednesday.
"I really believe Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo could pitch in a four-man rotation," he said.
"I just know baseball-wise it was a four-man rotation for 100 years and there were no pitch counts. Now we've got pitch counts and we're on a five-man rotation. Seems like it would be the other way around," Narron said.
"As much as anything, it's what pitchers get accustomed to. Pitchers are accustomed to five days."
After all the discussion, Narron added: "We're talking about something that's not going to happen."
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070301/SPT04/703010345/1071
Better breaking pitches could make Salmon
More complete repertoire boosts his effectiveness
BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM
SARASOTA, Fla. - Brad Salmon is the leader in the clubhouse in the Coming Out of Nowhere To Make the Reds Sweepstakes.
Salmon, the Reds' 21st-round choice in the 1999 draft, is scheduled to pitch an inning in the team's spring opener today against Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Fla.
He's caught everyone's attention in camp with a fastball that tops out in the mid-90s and a nasty split-finger pitch.
"Hopefully, they'll give me a second look," he said, "and I'll make the decision hard on them."
Salmon got on the Reds' radar by going 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA and five saves last year at Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville.
Before last season, he had middling results. His fastball was always above average, but his breaking pitches weren't getting it done.
So after 2005, when he went a combined 3-8 with a 3.34 ERA and four saves in stops at Chattanooga and Louisville, he went to Winter Ball in Puerto Rico with a plan.
"I wanted to work on a few things as far as my splittie and my slider," he said. "It gave me a lot more confidence. I always had decent control of my fastball. My off-speed stuff was what hurt me. I'd get behind in the count and have to throw a fastball because I didn't trust my off- speed stuff.
He began trusting it last season, and it showed in his numbers.
He started the season in Chattanooga, going 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and two saves in 16 games. He walked 16 and struck out 24.
He did markedly better after a promotion to Louisville. He went 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA and allowed only 36 hits in 57 2/3 innings. But the biggest improvement was in his walks-to-strikeouts ratio: he struck out 72 and walked only 24.
"It seemed to just click," he said.
The Reds added Salmon to the 40-man roster after the season. He got a lot of attention from coaches and scouts early in camp.
Salmon throws 93 to 96 mph - as hard as anyone in the Reds' bullpen. The pitcher on the roster he's most similar to is Todd Coffey, who went 6-7 with a 3.58 ERA and eight saves and led the Reds with 81 appearances last year.
"They're similar," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Todd Coffey has very good command of his pitches. That's one thing where Coffey's ahead of him. Salmon may throw a little harder. Salmon's got a pretty good (split-finger); if he can throw that in the middle of the plate and down any at all, he's going to get a lot of swing-and-misses."
Salmon was ready for camp.
"The arm feels good," he said. "I worked hard this offseason. I came into camp in the best shape to try to impress somebody, make them take a second look at me."
IT'S A START: Homer Bailey tried to shrug off the significance of his spring debut, an intrasquad game in which he pitched against Bronson Arroyo.
"They let me go first so I could do a starter's routine. That was one benefit of it," he said. "... But I don't see it as a sign.
"Maybe they went in alphabetical order - Arroyo, then me."
JAVY HITS: Whether the Reds go with two or three catchers, Javier Valentine is going to be in the key left-handed pinch-hitting role.
"The way Javy can come off the bench and hit in that role, whether we've got anybody else or not, he's going to be used," Narron said. "If something happens, we'll piece it together at the end."
Valentin had four homers (one shy of a club record) and 12 RBI in 52 pinch-hit at-bats last year. He hit .286 with 12 homers and 25 RBI in 168 overall left-handed at-bats.
CUT SHORT: The Reds went only five innings in their intrasquad game rather than 51/2. David Weathers, one of the pitchers scheduled to go, is away from camp to be with his ailing mother.
FOUR-MAN ROTATION: Narron spent a lot of time discussing the four-man rotation Wednesday.
"I really believe Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo could pitch in a four-man rotation," he said.
"I just know baseball-wise it was a four-man rotation for 100 years and there were no pitch counts. Now we've got pitch counts and we're on a five-man rotation. Seems like it would be the other way around," Narron said.
"As much as anything, it's what pitchers get accustomed to. Pitchers are accustomed to five days."
After all the discussion, Narron added: "We're talking about something that's not going to happen."