Justin Mallett

[mth123]

I'm a little intrigued by this guy lately. It seems that checking the minor league updates every night that he has been putting up a lot of zeros lately. He seems better since he was put back in the bullpen. Here is what I know:

He's age 25, 6 feet and 7 inches tall, weighs 215 pounds and throws righthanded

Signed as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2003

His 2007 FIP is 3.65 much better than the 4.77 ERA he shows

His 2007 stats are marred by a couple short outings against Jacksonville in mid-June

He seems capable of going multiple innings or for short stints

He was once suspended 50 games for "substances of abuse"

His components show a 10.36 K/9 (big jump from 2006 when it was in the 7 range), 4.99 BB/9 (but below 3 in A+ and AA last year), and .55 HR/9 (consistent with 2006).

That's about it. Can anybody fill in any details? Should this guy be in the conversation about potential bullpen help down the road? What does he throw from a types of pitches and stuff perspective? Any detail on the suspension and has he licked his problems?

Any info appreciated.

[medford]

He's been a personal favorite of mine since I saw him pitch w/ the Dragons a couple of times. Seems to be a late bloomer. I remember reading somewhere that he transfered schools his senior season and failed to make the baseball team, but caught on w/ a JUCO team in college (perhaps the 50 game suspension is related to why he couldn't make a high school team, but that is 100% speculation on my part)

I saw him pitch personally w/ Dayton 2x, and once on a television replay. He's never been touted as much of a prospect on Redszone (or elsewhere), but he's put up solid number at every step of the way. IIRC, he doesn't seem to have much of a fastball, but has a real solid changeup. Now I'm no scout, not even close, but I'd say he had an average fastball and a + changeup.

Other than that I can't remember much. If you dig thru the archives, I posted a couple of reports on him when I saw him in person, as well as keeping track of his progress when he moved up from Dayton.

Probably a middling reliever at best, if he ever makes the big leagues. If I remember correctly, his drug suspension was not steriod related; I'm not sure if he's kicked his habit or not (nor I know what he did test positive for)

[TOBTTReds]

He's been a personal favorite of mine since I saw him pitch w/ the Dragons a couple of times.

Same here. I got to see him about 10+ times in Dayton in 03 I believe. I really liked him. Also, he seemed like a very nice guy off the field as well. When he would chart the games in the stands during games, kids would always come up to him for his autograph because he is pretty recognizable.

iirc, he throws a FB in the mid-upper 90's. But he had little command. My guess is that he has toned down his FB to command it better. So hopefully he is still around the 93-94 range.