Update on Chapman

[OnBaseMachine]

From Jamie Ramsey's blog:

QUOTE BOAT

"It's a gift. Everyone wishes they could run faster, hit farther, throw harder. That is why it is so much fun to watch (Chapman) throw his fastball. His arm is electric. Randy Johnson was the same way." - Columbus pitching coach Charles Nagy (Columbus Dispatch)

"Early in the game (Chapman) had a lot of velocity. And he was throwing the fastball. I was fortunate enough to hit fastballs that were over the plate. Then, later in the game, I had a check-swing strikeout and he was throwing me all off-speed stuff. When he gets that secondary pitch where he can throw it early in the game as well, he's going to be tough. I can see why (the Reds) love him." - Clippers DH Josh Phelps (Columbus Dispatch)

http://ramsey.mlblogs.com/archives/2...port-6210.html

[OnBaseMachine]

From Craig Calcaterra:

Forgot to mention in my Chapman post this AM: Aroldis has a nice pickoff move. Caught 2 Clippers napping (though 1 was safe b/c of a bobble)

http://twitter.com/craigcalcaterra

[kfm]

Since I live in Columbus, I went to the game and just have not had a chance to post what I saw from Chapman. First, it is something to see triple digits on the speed gun and the crowd actually clapped when he hit 100 mph. He started the game throwing almost exclusively fastballs and you could tell that the Clipper's hitters were sitting on his fastball. While his stuff was dominant, his location was not. Early his fastball was up and guys took some very good swings on it. Later in the game he actually started mixing his pitches quite nicley and the clippers hitters had problems. When they did not strike out, they made very weak contact. There were a lot of check swings. He struck a couple guys out looking on his changeup. He was wild at times, as he threw 3 pitches that went to the backstop. I have to agree with the assessment I read earlier, once he started mixing in his offspeed stuff the Clippers really had a hard time handling him. I really think his whole issue is control in the strikezone. When his pitches were down, he was virtually unhittable, but when his pitches were up, one of the clippers hit a belt high 98 mph pitch off the centerfield wall, they were able to put good swings on all of his pitches. All in all, you can see the dominant potential but he is not there yet. That is just my humble assessment.

[Javy Pornstache]

Originally Posted by kfm

Since I live in Columbus, I went to the game and just have not had a chance to post what I saw from Chapman. First, it is something to see triple digits on the speed gun and the crowd actually clapped when he hit 100 mph. He started the game throwing almost exclusively fastballs and you could tell that the Clipper's hitters were sitting on his fastball. While his stuff was dominant, his location was not. Early his fastball was up and guys took some very good swings on it. Later in the game he actually started mixing his pitches quite nicley and the clippers hitters had problems. When they did not strike out, they made very weak contact. There were a lot of check swings. He struck a couple guys out looking on his changeup. He was wild at times, as he threw 3 pitches that went to the backstop. I have to agree with the assessment I read earlier, once he started mixing in his offspeed stuff the Clippers really had a hard time handling him. I really think his whole issue is control in the strikezone. When his pitches were down, he was virtually unhittable, but when his pitches were up, one of the clippers hit a belt high 98 mph pitch off the centerfield wall, they were able to put good swings on all of his pitches. All in all, you can see the dominant potential but he is not there yet. That is just my humble assessment.

I agree kfm, I was there, he definitely isn't a finished product yet, but I don't think many expect him to be for a little while yet. You can see amazingly good things coming though. Also, it seemed to me that he was more or less "working" on pitches, as much as he threw fastballs exclusively early, toward the end of the game, he was throwing nothing but changeups. I think it really had the Clippers hitters fooled, thinking he was just trying to velocitize them by having them sitting on an 85mph change just to blast a 97mph FB by them, but he kept the off-speed stuff on 'em late for the most part.

Also, his move to 1st was tremendous, and I don't think too many have spoken on that. He really had baserunners (the few that did make it on) watching themselves all night.

[kfm]

Originally Posted by Javy Pornstache

I agree kfm, I was there, he definitely isn't a finished product yet, but I don't think many expect him to be for a little while yet. You can see amazingly good things coming though. Also, it seemed to me that he was more or less "working" on pitches, as much as he threw fastballs exclusively early, toward the end of the game, he was throwing nothing but changeups. I think it really had the Clippers hitters fooled, thinking he was just trying to velocitize them by having them sitting on an 85mph change just to blast a 97mph FB by them, but he kept the off-speed stuff on 'em late for the most part.

Also, his move to 1st was tremendous, and I don't think too many have spoken on that. He really had baserunners (the few that did make it on) watching themselves all night.

You are right, and I forgot to mention his move to first base. It is very good, he could have easily picked off two runners instead of just one. I thought he really lulled them to sleep because he did not show a good move early in the game nor was he all that quick to the plate. Then he showed his good move and used a slide step a couple of times. I had never heard anyone talk about his move before. You can see the potential, and I was probably more excited about the innings when he was throwing sliders and changeups than I was with the fastball. I hope fans are going to be patient, because if they give this kid a chance to really develop he can be scary good.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by kfm

You are right, and I forgot to mention his move to first base. It is very good, he could have easily picked off two runners instead of just one. I thought he really lulled them to sleep because he did not show a good move early in the game nor was he all that quick to the plate. Then he showed his good move and used a slide step a couple of times. I had never heard anyone talk about his move before. You can see the potential, and I was probably more excited about the innings when he was throwing sliders and changeups than I was with the fastball. I hope fans are going to be patient, because if they give this kid a chance to really develop he can be scary good.

I agree. I have a good feeling his BB/9 will go down when he is pitching his game. Now he is on a program designed to make him work his breaking ball in certain spots.

[Will M]

Originally Posted by Cedric

Now he is on a program designed to make him work his breaking ball in certain spots.

IMO this is a really good strategy for the team to make. if he just threw 100 mph heaters he could likely beat the AAA competition fairly easily. the problem is that once in the bigs guys can tee off on a 100 mph fastball if thats all you have. so having him stay in AAA to work on control & his secondary pitches is a good. the big leagues is not the place to work on this kind of stuff. now certainly there is a learning curve in the show but it seems that in times past the team rushed guys to the bigs too soon.