Baseball America Southern League Top 20 Prospects

[lollipopcurve]

but I'd like to hear what others think from what they've seen of Cueto, particularly in regard to his slider.

Wish I could weigh in here, but I haven't seen him except for some isolated clips on youtube or someplace. What I do recall, and this has nothing to do with his slider, is that he does look like he has a tendency to pitch up in the zone.

[camisadelgolf]

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...jsp?mc=lotzkar

There's a link to a video of him pitching (in high school, I presume).

[paulrichjr]

IMO, that won't bode well for Lotzkar's development. I'd prefer to see him kept away from full season ball until 2009. He's still 17 and if he spent a full season a every level, he'd still be getting a cup of coffee at age 22. However, I have every confidence he'll be rushed to calamitous effect.

As for Cueto, I'm curious what others think of his slider. Alan Matthews of BA just said "Bailey's breaker is a nasty pitch that is more consistent at this stage" and "[Cueto] powers through his slider, giving it cutting action without depth, but its tight spin provides deception even when it lacks a defined shape." Now I haven't seen Cueto pitch a lot, but I know this much - no one's hitting his slider and it's consistently finding the zone. I've heard from some that his slider eats hitters alive (partially because Cueto can vary the break on it) and that it's a far better offering that Bailey's notoriously erratic curve. Matthews has never impressed me overly much so I won't harp overly much on why he'd list a short pitcher with a so-so breaking ball #4 on an AA prospects list, but I'd like to hear what others think from what they've seen of Cueto, particularly in regard to his slider.

I saw him pitch in the last game of this season and he was without a doubt mostly toying with the other team. He looked dominant and in control. His breaking stuff looked good but I noticed that he changed speeds on his fastball a lot. He threw it wherever he wanted to throw it and at many different speeds...90-97

[dougdirt]

Johnny Cueto is without a doubt, a PITCHER. He just happens to have some really good stuff as well. I have no had the chance to see him pitch this year, but maybe someone who bought the Louisville Bats package on milb.com can go back and watch his starts there and give an opinion.

[lollipopcurve]

There's a link to a video of him pitching (in high school, I presume).

Cool, thanks, PRJ. He looks very aggressive, which I like, and that breaking ball -- though we only see 2-3 -- looks thoroughly wicked. He needs to refine his delivery, for sure, but there's a lot of power there.