What am I missing about Matt Maloney?

[wolfboy]

Can we quote this post and save it for a 'How Not to Post on RedsZone' thread?

As long as we can include your response.

[SMcGavin]

Maloney has a strong curve and change up. His fastball tops out around 91 though. The flyball issue is a big concern for our ballpark though, thats for sure.

He's not a groundball pitcher, but doesn't really have strong flyball tendencies either. His GB% has been over 40% his whole minor league career. It's 41% this year. All three of Harang, Cueto, and Arroyo give up more flyballs. So while I'm not particularly excited about his GB%, it's not something severe that I see being prohibitive to success in GABP.

[dougdirt]

He's not a groundball pitcher, but doesn't really have strong flyball tendencies either. His GB% has been over 40% his whole minor league career. It's 41% this year. All three of Harang, Cueto, and Arroyo give up more flyballs. So while I'm not particularly excited about his GB%, it's not something severe that I see being prohibitive to success in GABP.

He has fairly strong flyball tendencies. 59% of the balls put in play against him are in the air. Thats also in the minors, where guys tend to get a few more grounders than they do in the majors. I don't think thats going to make or break anyone though of course, but it won't likely help him either.

[Lockdwn11]

My understanding is that he is a fly ball pitcher that tops out at a speed of 90. That is what translates poorly to the ML and Great American. Successful soft tossing lefties often have a pitch with good downward break. Having said that, his stats are impressive enough to merit a test of that proposition.

91mph isn't soft tossing for a lefty. There are very few left handed starters that throw 93-95 or above in MLB most throw 88-92 .

[_Sir_Charles_]

91mph isn't soft tossing for a lefty. There are very few left handed starters that throw 93-95 or above in MLB most throw 88-92 .

I agree completely. I think many Reds fans are getting a bit overused to our current contingent of fireballers. Pitchers with 93-96 MPH are NOT the norm....just the norm on our current staff. :O)

[Kingspoint]

He has a strained oblique. Not sure how long he is out though.

I came to this thread to see what was wrong with Maloney, and I knew I could count on you to deliver the info.

Thanks.

Strained oblique doesn't sound good, though. He won't be needed until at least August 17th, though, so I'm sure he'll stay out until at least then (unless Arroyo is traded soon, and that would stretch the AAA/Major League starters a bit.)

[Blitz Dorsey]

He racks up the strikeouts every year. That tells me he has a deceptively good fastball (much like Harang, 2008 excluded). But we won't know for sure how he does until the Reds give him a shot.

Another funny thing is that the Phillies really goofed up here. If they were going to trade Maloney for Lohse, they certainly should have tried to re-sign Lohse. Especially if all it took was ~$4 million to sign him. I'm sure Lohse wanted more than that at the start of FA, but I think the Cardinals ended up getting him for just $3.75 mil.

[LoganBuck]

Maloney tops out at 91 he works 86-88. For comparison sake that is about where other recent lefties Brandon Claussen and Phil Dumatrait worked. I expect similar results.

[dougdirt]

Maloney tops out at 91 he works 86-88. For comparison sake that is about where other recent lefties Brandon Claussen and Phil Dumatrait worked. I expect similar results.

I will go ahead and say his offspeed stuff is much stronger than that of Dumatrait. Claussen was a while ago, before I was that focused on certain aspects of the game so I won't comment on that one much.

[camisadelgolf]

As long as we can include your response.

Actually, I got warned for my response (and deservedly so). I typed my response in Notepad and copy-and-pasted the wrong section. The point of my post was pretty much the same, but I included reasons for why it was ridiculous to say Matt Maloney had no control and why the original post in question wasn't a good post (in my unrequested opinion).

[Rojo]

The reverse also could be true. He could come up and have a great game and really increase his value.

Let's wait til we can put an outfield behind him.

[fearofpopvol1]

Let's wait til we can put an outfield behind him.

That's simple. For the game he starts, put Bruce in RF and Patterson in CF and there you go. That defense should be fine.

[roborobj]

I came to this thread to see what was wrong with Maloney, and I knew I could count on you to deliver the info.

Thanks.

Strained oblique doesn't sound good, though. He won't be needed until at least August 17th, though, so I'm sure he'll stay out until at least then (unless Arroyo is traded soon, and that would stretch the AAA/Major League starters a bit.)

I've been told that there is no first have winners for AAA for playoff status. I'm kind of new to AAA so can someone tell me what happens at the end of the regular playing season for playoffs, etc., for AAA? Thanks.

[jojo]

91mph isn't soft tossing for a lefty. There are very few left handed starters that throw 93-95 or above in MLB most throw 88-92 .

His fastball becomes a straight-as-an-arrow meat ball when he tries to throw it above 88 mph. Velocity is not his friend.