anyone else impressed with salmon?

[mroby85]

just wondered after watching the game tonight? his fastball definately has some zip on it. does anyone know how his breaking stuff is? i only saw him throw one throughout the 9th inning. Not trying to rush him into anything, but he looks like he possibly has the stuff to be a closer someday.

[TOBTTReds]

Attack the strikezone. That has been our pitches key to success so far. Throwing a TON of first pitch strikes. Needs to pound the zone, because if he does, he will be good.

[AmarilloRed]

I thought he did well. He had a bit of wildness,but he will do beter with experience.

[Doro]

I would also like him to keep some of those fastballs down in the zone. A guy like Pujols could take a belt high 95mph pretty far. But I was very impressed.

[vic715]

Well he did come in with a 9 run lead which was good to have in your MLB debut and I was glad he did well. Let's see how he does when he has to bear down.Looks promising though.

[WMR]

I like relievers who can throw hard with good control.

I dislike soft-throwing geriatric patients. (especially geriatric soft-throwers who are given 2 year contracts)

[Caveman Techie]

Attack the strikezone. That has been our pitches key to success so far. Throwing a TON of first pitch strikes. Needs to pound the zone, because if he does, he will be good.

Aves please don't take this the wrong way but when I read your post all I could hear was Gullett saying "pitch to contact" :) Isn't this the same basic philosophy, just worded differently?

[Kc61]

I like relievers who can throw hard with good control.

I dislike soft-throwing geriatric patients. (especially geriatric soft-throwers who are given 2 year contracts)

David Weathers and Mike Stanton are hardly geriatric patients. They are accomplished relievers who have plenty left in the tank.

As Coutlangus' ERA advances toward 6 and Salmon gets his first major league inning with a 9 run lead, I am glad the Reds are starting to have a mixture of relievers, including some harder throwers. But let's not assume that every reliever who can break glass with his fastball is going to be effective.

The problem with all the love for minor league prospects is that the team becomes a perpetual tryout camp. Thankfully, the Reds value stuff but also value experience.

Let's see where all these young relievers are on the 4th of July. I hope they all work out, but we'll see.

[Hey Meat]

I liked him, 94, 95 mile an hour fastball, hitting the spots. Although not exactly up to what I would call a fireballer, I still think we need one or two guys like who can do that.

[redsfan30]

Needs to keep the ball down in the zone, but he certainly had an impressive first outing.

[Far East]

Pleased to see him get through his debut, scoreless.

If he has command of that slider, he'll be tough; it had some sharp down-bite.

His heater looked awfully straight, however. But he probably was just trying real hard to get it somewhere in the zone in his first appearance. I hope it has more movement when his pulse rate, adrenalin level, respiratory rate get back to normal.

[TRF]

well, it was obvious that he was nervous, but he can bring the heat. He throws harder than Coffey it seems, got as high as 96.

[westofyou]

He throws harder than Coffey it seems, got as high as 96.

The question is... if he has a bad outing does he get a smash thread of his own like Todd?

:p:

[mroby85]

The question is... if he has a bad outing does he get a smash thread of his own like Todd?

:p:

coffey had more than one bad outing before there was a "smash thread"

im pretty sure we don't see threads about harang or arroyo when they don't have their best nights.

[lollipopcurve]

The problem with all the love for minor league prospects is that the team becomes a perpetual tryout camp. Thankfully, the Reds value stuff but also value experience.

Agree 100%.

I thought Salmon looked pretty good. Good velocity and run on the fastball. But -- he only threw one breaking ball and missed with it, and no more than 50% of his fastballs were strikes. Agree with redsfan30 that he needs to get the ball down.

Way too soon to tell, but as Narron has said, he's going to need to throw strikes -- and, I'd add, to real good hitters he's going to have to be able to spot the fastball some, too. I didn't get the sense he was trying to hit spots last night (not that the situation called for it) -- he was just trying to keep it in the strike zone, and I'm sure he was revved way up. He's going to need that secondary pitch to be at least passable, too.

To be honest, I'm more optimistic about McBeth since reports on his secondary pitches are somewhat encouraging. Of the 3 righty power arm prospects close to the majors, my handicapping, based on scant evidence, goes... 1. McBeth 2. Salmon 3. Burton

[Sea Ray]

I liked him, 94, 95 mile an hour fastball, hitting the spots. Although not exactly up to what I would call a fireballer, I still think we need one or two guys like who can do that.

He hit 96 at least once. Lidge didn't get anything above 97. You don't consider Lidge a fireballer?

[coachw513]

I like relievers who can throw hard with good control.

I dislike soft-throwing geriatric patients. (especially geriatric soft-throwers who are given 2 year contracts)

Struggling to read between the lines...hmmm :D

[Screwball]

I didn't read the rest of the thread, so I apologize if this has already been mentioned, but...

Did he remind anybody else of Brad Lidge? After watching BL pitch for two innings, and then Salmon, it seems their stuff was very similar. Both had rocket arms (Lidge at 97, Salmon at 96), and when they did throw their breaking ball (I think Salmon threw a slider once, didn't he?), it had nasty downward movement that really locks up a hitter. I really think the Reds have something in Brad Salmon.

[HustlinOwl]

Who's delivery does Salmon remind most of you guys of?

[UPRedsFan]

He has what looked like a split finger pitch that sunk and moved in to the rh hitter. Missed with the one I saw. Everything else was fastballs. The prospects of Salmon, Coffey, McBeth, Burton and Bray in the bullpen the next few years give much hope!

[Doro]

He has what looked like a split finger pitch that sunk and moved in to the rh hitter. Missed with the one I saw. Everything else was fastballs. The prospects of Salmon, Coffey, McBeth, Burton and Bray in the bullpen the next few years give much hope!

I agree but we definately need a guy thats a true fireballer. Those guys have heat but they dont have the kinda heat to blow it past the best hitters. We need a Wagner, Rodriguez, Papelbon, Zumaya type guy. The only player we have in our organization with that type of potential if he could give it all for an inning would be Bailey but I think most would agree I'd rather have him starting. Cueto could also be a possiblility and with his small frame might make more sense to start molding him into a closer.