Homer watch

[OnBaseMachine]

I fail to see where Volquez has a violent mechanics as you are making it out to be. His delivery is clean and repeatable from what I've seen. Chris Welsh or Brantley, can't remember which one, even made the same comment that his delivery was clean and repeatable.

[Screwball]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

Chris Welsh or Brantley, can't remember which one, even made the same comment that his delivery was clean and repeatable.

Pffft, you act as if they would know more about pitching mechanics than Aronchis.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by Screwball

Pffft, you act as if they would know more about pitching mechanics than Aronchis.

Hard to believe, I know.

[SarasotaFan]

people's bodies differ...

as far as leg strength in a pitcher is concerned - it's huge. look at the fireballers who have had lengthy careers - most have strong legs (wagner, ryan, clemens on the sauce, et al.) for a nice drive to the plate which makes it easier on the arm.

[OnBaseMachine]

Homer Bailey was everyone's favorite pitching prospect going into last season, but injuries and some poor performances in the majors got some people down on the right-hander. Bailey seemed poised to redeem himself and win a spot in the Reds' rotation this spring, but instead he posted a 5.21 ERA and walked more batters (16) than he struck out (11) in 19 innings of work. Now back at Triple-A Louisville, Bailey may be turning things around. The right-hander gave up one run while walking one and striking out two in his first outing of the season, then hurled 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball to go with seven strikeouts and one walk last night. Bailey still posses the same ace upside he had last year, and if he can string together a few more good starts he'll be worth stashing away even in one-year leagues.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/fea...&article=30156

[Degenerate39]

6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K 81 pitches.

Not a bad outing by Homer

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by Degenerate39

6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K 81 pitches.

Not a bad outing by Homer

Yeah, but 4 k's won't cut it. I would require he have a 9 k/9 through 75 innings to get the callup. Though, everything else is looking up including hitting 97mph for the first time this year!!

[dougdirt]

Can't strike them all out every game. Even guys like Harang have 6 and 7 inning starts with 2 and 3 strikeouts.

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Can't strike them all out every game. Even guys like Harang have 6 and 7 inning starts with 2 and 3 strikeouts.

Yeah, but 2/3 games isn't that good. Homer has had them 0-2 alot and just isn't getting his breaking over good enough to whiff them. If he could, I suspect Krivsky would call him up pronto.

[SarasotaFan]

Originally Posted by Aronchis

Yeah, but 2/3 games isn't that good. Homer has had them 0-2 alot and just isn't getting his breaking over good enough to whiff them. If he could, I suspect Krivsky would call him up pronto.

Doubt he's gonna just lay his breaking ball in there 0-2. Most likely he'll try to bury it in the dirt or throw a fastball by them - I saw him try to throw too many fastball's by people 0-2 on the outside corner last year, that didn't work too well in Cincinnati. Hopefully Ted Powers and Rick Sweet (being a former catcher) are helping him with his game calling. As for his off-speed - he lacks an off-speed pitch that he can throw for a strike when needed. I think this is what's going to hurt him in the long run.

[AmarilloRed]

I would like to see Bailey go deeper in games and be more efficient with his pitches. 5 or 6 innings is good for a #4/5, but not for someone projected to be a top of the rotation starter

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

I would like to see Bailey go deeper in games and be more efficient with his pitches. 5 or 6 innings is good for a #4/5, but not for someone projected to be a top of the rotation starter

The guy is 21 years old and has progressed so that, unlike last year, he is pitching very effectively at the AAA level. This is meaningful improvement. And his age 21-22 season has just started.

I am very encouraged by Bailey's start to the season. He's doing just fine.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

I would like to see Bailey go deeper in games and be more efficient with his pitches. 5 or 6 innings is good for a #4/5, but not for someone projected to be a top of the rotation starter

Maybe you should look at his pitch counts then.

Homer has thrown 81 pitches in a 6.1 inning start, 82 pitches in a 7 inning start and 90 pitches in 5.2 innings. Thats 253 pitches in 19 innings pitched, or 13.31 pitches per inning. That is EXTREMELY pitch efficient. In fact, if he were doing that for the Reds, he would lead the team. The previous three years Aaron Harang, our horse, has averaged 16.12, 15.96 and 15.50 pitches per inning. Bailey isn't 'going deep' because he is being removed with low pitch counts.

[Screwball]

Found a pretty good article put up a couple weeks ago about Homer entitled Homer Bailey: Ace or Talented Underachiever?. There's some video clips so it's best to go to the link, but here's a little teaser:

Homer Bailey - Ace or Talented Underachiever?
By Alex Eisenberg
April 2, 2008


As sort of a preview to the upcoming articles about the most overrated prospects in baseball, I wanted to look at a pitcher that I tend to think talent evaluators overrate: Homer Bailey. The questions I have about Bailey are more in relation to his overall numbers and his mental make-up than about the quality of his stuff.

When he's at his best, Bailey's fastball can be electric. He can consistently pump 95, 96, and 97 mph fastballs by hitters and the pitch can have a sneaky quality to it as it explodes out of Bailey's hand.

He also links to dougdirt's blog in the next paragraph. Pretty cool stuff.

[Superdude]

Yeah, but 2/3 games isn't that good. Homer has had them 0-2 alot and just isn't getting his breaking over good enough to whiff them. If he could, I suspect Krivsky would call him up pronto.

Agreed. That seems to be the next step for him in my opinion. When Bailey's on his game, he can get 0-2 with the fastball, and even showed a decent knack for dropping a curveball into the strike zone early in the count during his spring training starts, but after that, it's like he adopts a pitch to contact philosophy and just hopes things work out. I think he'll finally take off like we expect him to when he learns to bury that curveball consistently as an out-pitch.