Fossas Interview: Rundown of 2011 Potential Dragons

We don't get a lot of chances to hear the coaches talk about low-level minor league pitchers, but here, Tony Fossas goes into detail about Corcino, Lotzkar, Tuttle, Robles, Johnson, Howell, Wolford, Guillon, and Correa. He also talks about Joseph and his time tutoring Chapman. He really speaks highly of Blaine Howell and Ismael Guillon. The whole interview is long, about 25 minutes.

For those who saw Joseph pitch in Dayton, you will note his comment that he has "better than a major league slider" and that "I can't think of any left-handed hitter that can hit his slider."

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/n...=.jsp&sid=t459

Haven't had a chance to listen yet, but thanks for posting. That's quite a roll call of pitching prospects clustered at a similar level of development. I'm glad to see Blaine Howell included on the list. He's a guy who was extremely effective last year, and scarcely recognized. Very much a sleeper, in my view.

Great to hear some detail straight from Fossas on these kids -- thanks a lot 72. A few impressions:

Corcino/Correa -- sounds like Corcino's intangibles are off the charts. Between Corcino and Correa, Corcino appears to be a bit more prepared to graduate up the ladder. Correa is still raw, per Fossas.

Howell -- Could be right behind Joseph as a LH out of the pen. Great shot to be a big leaguer. Nice to hear.

Guillon -- He absolutely loves Guillon. Seemed to put him above all the other young guys. 6'5" lefthander with decent velocity and a plus changeup... nice.

Lotzkar -- I liked what I heard on him too. Sounds like all the components, except for health, are there.

Really great interview.

Thanks, '72. That was great.

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Originally Posted by redsof72

We don't get a lot of chances to hear the coaches talk about low-level minor league pitchers, but here, Tony Fossas goes into detail about Corcino, Lotzkar, Tuttle, Robles, Johnson, Howell, Wolford, Guillon, and Correa. He also talks about Joseph and his time tutoring Chapman. He really speaks highly of Blaine Howell and Ismael Guillon. The whole interview is long, about 25 minutes.

For those who saw Joseph pitch in Dayton, you will note his comment that he has "better than a major league slider" and that "I can't think of any left-handed hitter that can hit his slider."

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/n...=.jsp&sid=t459

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Perhaps a bit of hyperbole on his part but if not whoa mama this stood out to me.

On Josephs slider: I can't think of any LHH that can hit his slider, has a plus, plus, plus slider
On Aroldis slider: Has a really good slider

:confused: :D :thumbup:

When you start comparing Chapman's slider, the thing that puts it at the top of the list is not necessarily the movement or command, but that it is 90 mph. Joseph's slider is 83. Joseph's slider has an unbelievable amount of break, to the point where you will see some things that you rarely see--such as RIGHT handed batters swinging at sliders that end up hitting them in the foot, or lefties that you see from the moment they step in the box that they have absolutely no chance of making contact. Joseph struck out 40 batters in 23 innings in Dayton. He had 81 AB's against him and struck out 40.

Key for Joseph is the third pitch, which for him is the change-up. He has a decent fastball around 91. The slider is a killer pitch, but just those two pitches would limit him to being a one-inning pitcher. Personally, how many relievers do you see that go more than one inning at a time anyway?

Worst case scenario, Joseph is a situational lefty that is an absolute weapon against the top left-handed hitters in the opposing lineup. Best case scenario is that he develops the change-up and then the sky is the limit and he becomes a big league closer with dominant stuff. He has not done much with that change-up yet and there are some who do not see anything there, and that is why he is not a top-10 prospect right now in some people's eyes.

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Joseph's slider has an unbelievable amount of break, to the point where you will see some things that you rarely see--such as RIGHT handed batters swinging at sliders that end up hitting them in the foot, or lefties that you see from the moment they step in the box that they have absolutely no chance of making contact.

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Yeah, but is it a sucker pitch that hitters will learn to lay off of once they see a scouting report? He has to be able to throw it for strikes. If it dives out of the zone, eventually hitters will catch up.

You are correct. He has to command the pitch. He is still developing.

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Originally Posted by redsof72

When you start comparing Chapman's slider, the thing that puts it at the top of the list is not necessarily the movement or command, but that it is 90 mph. Joseph's slider is 83. Joseph's slider has an unbelievable amount of break, to the point where you will see some things that you rarely see--such as RIGHT handed batters swinging at sliders that end up hitting them in the foot, or lefties that you see from the moment they step in the box that they have absolutely no chance of making contact. Joseph struck out 40 batters in 23 innings in Dayton. He had 81 AB's against him and struck out 40.

Key for Joseph is the third pitch, which for him is the change-up. He has a decent fastball around 91. The slider is a killer pitch, but just those two pitches would limit him to being a one-inning pitcher. Personally, how many relievers do you see that go more than one inning at a time anyway?

Worst case scenario, Joseph is a situational lefty that is an absolute weapon against the top left-handed hitters in the opposing lineup. Best case scenario is that he develops the change-up and then the sky is the limit and he becomes a big league closer with dominant stuff. He has not done much with that change-up yet and there are some who do not see anything there, and that is why he is not a top-10 prospect right now in some people's eyes.

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Sounds like you are describing Aroldis' slider right there. The sickest slider I have ever seen.